


Something Just Like This

by EncOREO



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Cliche, F/M, Fluff, Fluff fest, Josh in Love, Pregnancy, Protective Josh, Reader Insert, Reader-Insert, Surrogacy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, reader is a surrogate, some smut, twenty one pilots - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-02 07:57:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 64,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11505042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EncOREO/pseuds/EncOREO
Summary: Josh falls. Josh falls fast and Josh falls hard. But what happens when he loves something he can't keep?Just a super fluffy love story in which, Josh meets and quickly falls completely in love with you. You are pregnant (surrogate) and he gets attached to the pregnancy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not your typical pregnancy fic!
> 
> Another dream about Josh that is being turned into a reader insert. I thought, 'hmm, out of all the pregnancy fics or reader insert fics, I bet exactly zero feature a surrogate pregnancy'. Well, here ya go. Something new/different. Enjoy!

“Maddy, your 3 o’clock’s here.” 

“Thanks, Jill,” you hear a voice call from somewhere in the back.

You’re currently sitting on a large white, Victorian tufted couch that has a few silver and pink sequined throw pillows placed upon.  The salon is decorated in black, white, and soft pink, everything being very feminine. There are lots of mirrored surfaces and accents of glass or silver scattered about, your favorite being the large, crystalline chandelier that hangs in the center of the waiting area. The overall decor reminds you of the glitz and glamour of the 1920’s and just feels very elegant.

A brown-eyed girl with blond hair and darker roots walks up and stands next to the front desk before addressing you.

“Kat? You can come on back.” You stand from your seat and follow her back to her booth.  

“Hi, I’m Maddy,” she says, holding out her hand for you to shake.

“Hi, Maddy. I’m Kat.” You shake her hand and take a seat at her table.

You set your purse down on the floor next to her table and let your eyes wander around the back of the salon. The salon has that distinct smell that takes you back to proms and spa days, which you find relaxing.  Looking around you see that they have several luxurious pedicure chairs, all are white leather with a black or pink throw pillow accenting each one, set up against the far wall, while the entire wall on the opposite side is lined with nail polishes of all colors and types.  

“So, what brings you in today? Got a hot date this weekend?” she asks with a raised brow and a smirk, holding out her hand to get started on your nails.

Laughing, you answer, “I wish! No, my friend is getting married tomorrow so I’m in town this weekend for the wedding.”

“Oh yeah? Are you going to be in the wedding or just attending?” she questions as she starts buffing and prepping your nails.

“In it; I’m one of the bridesmaids. That’s why we gotta go with a cream or soft pink color for these nails,” you say with a huff, wiggling your fingers and sighing.

“Not thrilled about the wedding colors?” she asks with a grin, glancing up at you before getting back to work.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that I am five months pregnant and she’s got me in a floor length dress.” Her eyes go wide. “Right?!”  you continue, “We ALL know pregnant girls don’t look good in long dresses.”

“Girl, tell me about it! I’m five months pregnant too, and a lot of my summer dresses from before I was pregnant are longer,” she states.

“Oh, you’re pregnant too? That's awesome, congratulations! When’s your due date?”

“December 20th.”

“No way! I’m due December 24th!” you exclaim, voice volume going up for both of you as you get more and more excited.

“Get out! This is so cool! Do you know what you’re having yet? We just found out we’re having a girl,” she states.

“Girl, stop it! I’m pregnant with a girl too!” You both squeal and giggle at your matching pregnancies.

“But,” you continue, “the thing is, this isn’t my baby.” You pause for a moment at her look of confusion, as you always do when you tell someone you are pregnant but then claim the baby isn’t yours. Once she realizes that you are, in fact, not making a joke, you continue.

“I’m a surrogate.”

“You’re a surrogate?!” she says, eyes wide. “Oh my god, that’s so amazing! I’ve never met a surrogate before. What’s that like?”

You continue to talk and bond over the pregnancies and talk about the wedding while she finishes doing your nails. The two of you really hit it off, finding that you have much more in common than your pregnancies alone. Had you grown up in this area, you can see how the two of you would’ve easily been very good friends, if not best friends.

You’re sitting with your nails under the UV nail dryer when she says, “So since you’re from out of town and all, I wanna tell you about this really good pizza place not far from here called Hounddog’s. In fact, we’re probably gonna be eating there tonight. Lord knows I’m pregnant, tired, and don’t wanna cook.” You both laugh at that, knowing the feeling all too well. “I wouldn’t be disappointed if you happened to eat dinner there as well. You should definitely check it out,” she says with a wink, reaching over to turn off the machine.

“That sounds so good. I don’t know much about around here and I’m always down for good pizza, so if you say it’s good, I’m game.”

You follow her up to the front counter and place your purse on the countertop to retrieve your wallet. Recognizing the Goner bird pattern, she points to your wallet, “You a fan of Twenty One Pilots?”

“I guess you could say that,” you agree, shyly.

“You know they’re from here, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what I have heard,” you nod, handing over your debit card. “I think they just did a few hometown shows or something not too long ago.”

“Do you have a favorite between the two?” she asks, knowing full well she’s Tyler’s sister and that you are none the wiser.

“Umm, I don’t know.” You pause to think for a moment, furrowing your brow. “Wow, that’s actually _really_ hard. Josh seems so caring and kind, and Tyler just seems like a big sweetheart.”

“Riiiiiiiiight,” she says with an eye roll.

“Why, have you got to meet them before?” you ask, curiously.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” she says smirking as she hands you back your card.

“That’s so cool. I don't know what I'd do if I ever got to meet them,” you say, tucking your card back into your wallet before placing it into your purse and pulling out your sunglasses. “Well, thank you for doing my nails today, Maddy; they look gorgeous. Maybe I’ll see you tonight at Hounddog’s.”

You turn and wave as you’re leaving, smiling widely as she waves back and shouts, “See ya later, Kat!” as you’re walking out the door.

\-----

It’s about 6:30 pm and you’re sitting on the bed trying to connect your laptop to the hotel’s wifi. You’ve already unpacked all your stuff, and the last thing you needed to do was connect to the internet. You’ve been at it a good 15 minutes already and you’re starting to get frustrated, thinking about just giving up when you get a text from an unknown number.

 

Incoming from

UNKNOWN: Hey, this is Maddy. I hope you don’t mind, I got your number from your contact card at the salon. Anyhow, I just realized that being out of town you don’t exactly have a car. Want me to come pick you up for dinner? I get that pregnant girls need exercise and all, but no one wants to walk THAT far, lol.

 

Outgoing:

Hey Maddy!! Actually, that sounds great. I’m staying at the DoubleTree.

 

Incoming from

Maddy: Perfect. Pick you up in about 20 min?

 

Outgoing:

I’ll be ready. Just text when you’re here and I’ll come down.

 

You go back to trying to connect to the wifi, trying to figure out the guest passcode. ‘ _Guest passcode? I didn’t even get a passcode!’_ you think to yourself, screaming inside your own head. You start to think back to when you checked in earlier that morning. _Did they give me a passcode when I checked in?_  You can’t remember.

It’s been several minutes and you’re about to give up and just say screw it, you’ll just use your phone for the duration of your stay when another text comes thru.

 

Incoming from

Maddy: Hey girl, I’m here!! But do you mind if I use your restroom really quick? I hate to even ask, but again… pregnant girls. You know how it is.

 

Outgoing:

lol, come on up, I’m in room number 613. I totally know how it is. I still gotta get my shoes on anyhow.

 

Incoming from

Maddy: Cool. thx. I’ve got a friend with me, is that okay?

 

Outgoing:

Of course. Bring ‘em on up!

 

You stand up and move about the room, gathering your things to go so you can leave when she’s finished. When there’s a soft, melodic knock on the door, you smile to yourself, excited to see your new friend as you quickly cross the room.

You open the door and see Maddy standing there, a shock of bright yellow hair just behind her. It takes you a moment, but when it finally clicks, you realize that as you’re standing beside the door to let her in your room, in walks Maddy and… Josh freakin’ Dun!

Thankfully, you look more confused than shocked but still manage to shake it off enough to greet them with, “Uhh, hey guys,” as you slowly close the door and turn around.

She just walks in towards the bathroom and chuckles, “I _maaay_ have forgotten to tell you that I’m Tyler’s sister,” before winking and shutting the bathroom door with a huge, mischievous grin on her face.  Suddenly you’re in this unbelievable situation and all you can do is swallow down all the butterflies threatening to escape and laugh to yourself.

“Well then,” you say, turning to Josh, “Hi, I’m Kat.”

Josh is standing near the foot of your bed, looking just like every picture you’ve ever seen him in on the internet. He has on a backwards black snapback with bright yellow hair poking through, black gauges, slight scruff, plain gray shirt with a couple necklaces hanging down, black skinny jeans, and dark boots. His eyes, tho, those deep, chocolate eyes are so much more intense and beautiful in person. The internet could never do them justice, and when they look at you, all squinty and playful, you find it hard to breathe.  

“Your name is Kat? That’s so awesome! I love cats,” he says with a wide, playful smile.

Josh is teasing and you know it, but you take a deep breath to ground yourself and explain anyway, “Actually, Kat’s just a nickname. Short for Katherine.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Kat. I’m Josh.”

"Nice to meet _you_ ," you answer, grabbing your shoes and crossing the room to sit in one of the lounge chairs to put them on. He sits on the end of the bed and looks around the hotel room.

You intended to use your time away as sort of a mini vacation, so you sprung for the bigger, more luxurious room. It’s spacious with one king bed, a tv stand with a flat-screen tv and built-in drawers for clothes or other personal items, a work desk, and behind the sitting area are large, floor length windows that display just how pretty downtown Columbus is. You can’t wait to see the view at night.

He notices your dress bag hanging on the wall and points to it. “Maddy said you’re in town for a wedding.”

You look up from pulling at your shoelaces to answer him when she comes out of the bathroom holding her phone, still typing out a text.

“Guys, I’ll be right back, I gotta run downstairs really quick. Will’s gonna switch me vehicles. He’s almost here, then we can go.”

“Alrighty. You wanna just text when he gets here and we’ll meet you down there so you’re not walking back and forth?” you ask, pulling on your other shoe and tightening the laces.

“Works for me. See you guys in a few,” she says as she exits the room.

You finish tying your shoe and stand up, walking towards the dress.

“But yeah, my friend is getting married tomorrow. Wanna see the dress?” You walk over and unzip the dress bag, removing it from around the dress and hold it up, letting the dress hang to its full length.

“Ooooh, very fancy. And renaissance-y.”

You giggle a bit at his description. Once you got over your initial shock of _‘oh my gosh, Josh Dun is standing literally right in front of me’_ , you find that talking with him comes effortlessly. He has a very laid back and calm demeanor about him that makes it easy to just be yourself.

“Yeah, it’s pretty, and I’m excited for her and everything, but I just…” you pause and let out an exasperated sigh, “I don’t know exactly how flattering it’s gonna be on this,” you say as you gesture down to your belly. “And that’s not even me fishing for a compliment either. Super long dresses don’t generally look good on pregnant bodies,” you say, pulling a concerned face. “We end up looking like shapeless hippos.”

He’s openly laughing at your comment when another text alert comes thru stating that Maddy was ready to go. You hang the dress back up, not bothering to put it back in the bag, and together the two of you head downstairs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I actually am pregnant, I am a surrogate (on my 3rd surrobaby), I am having a girl, and I am due Christmas Eve. Weee!
> 
> If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff!  
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack!
> 
>   
> Featuring songs by artist like Train, P!ATD, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber and Jon Bellion, some of the songs aren't explicitly mentioned in the fic, but they definitely inspired moments or represent moments within the story. Please have a listen if you'd like to enhance your experience of this fic.
> 
>   
>  [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> 


	2. Chapter 2

Maddy wasn’t kidding; Hounddog’s was awesome, and you hadn’t even ordered your food yet. It’s just a tiny, hole-in-the-wall pizza place, but the smell was amazing, the atmosphere was chill, and you loved everything about it.

Inside the all brick building were several wooden tables and booths of varying length with matching wooden chairs or benches, and a long bar that stretched along the center of one wall.  It was the type of place that had low, jazzy/bluesy music playing in the background, parlor lighting, draft beers, and those plastic red cups that reminded you of every pizza place you ever ate at as a child.

Weaving her way through the front tables and walking past one of the wooden archways, Maddy led your group back to an adjoining room to take a seat at one of the larger booths in the back. It was equally as dim back here and relied heavily on string lights for most of its lighting. You sit across from Maddy on the far right side, Josh sitting next to you.

No sooner than when you had placed your beverage orders, the rest of the party showed up. When Maddy said her family was going out to dinner, you didn’t realize she meant her _entire_ family. As the table filled up, you suddenly feel very out of place and your pulse quicken.

You feel Josh scoot ever so slightly closer to you as he leans down and whispers, “Don’t worry. You don’t have to be nervous around them.”

Hmm. Wonder what gave you away?

“Everyone, I have someone I’d like you to meet,” Maddy states once everyone is seated, talking loudly over the quickly exchanged greetings. She starts introducing you to everyone, pointing to each person in turn.

“Kat, you’ve met Josh, this, of course, is Tyler, his wife, Jenna, my brother, Zach, his wife, Tatum,” now pointing to the far end of her side of the table and following it down, “my youngest brother, Jay, my dad, Chris, my mom, Kelly, and my husband, Will. Everyone, this is my new friend, Kat. She’s in town for a wedding this weekend, and, get this, she’s a surrogate. We’re actually due at the same time!” she finishes excitedly.

You smile and lift your hand in a small wave to everyone, and hear the table erupt in gasps and interested ‘ooh’s’. You feel Josh scoot in a bit more to bump your shoulder with his, giving you a reassuring smile.

“You’re a surrogate?” Kelly starts. “Ooh, that’s so wonderful! How did you get into that?”

“Well, I have a lot of friends who struggle with infertility, actually, and since I have smooth, easy pregnancies, I decided there’s no reason why I couldn’t help other families who struggle.”

“Do you ever get attached to the baby? Is it hard to give up when you’re done?” Jenna asks, her big blue eyes giving you a sympathetic look.

“Well, it’s not so much giving it up as it is giving it back. You go into it knowing it’s not your baby, and it’s not related to you in any way. It’s all mom and dad’s genetics, I’m just the oven,” you say with a small laugh. “Think of me as an extreme nanny. I babysit for 9 months, and then when the baby is born I get to ‘clock out’, go home, and take a huge nap.”

Everyone chuckles a bit at that. Josh readjusts his hat and scoots a fraction closer, casually propping his right arm up on the back of the bench seat behind you.

“So, what about if the mom and dad decide they don’t want the baby after all?” Chris asks, lifting his cup to take a drink of his soda.

“See, that’s why I go through an agency. You hear about those kinds of horror stories on the news all the time, and it kinda gives surrogacy a bad rap. The agency assists with matching you up with families based on your beliefs and what you are willing to do as a surrogate. For example, if you’re willing to carry multiples or not. They also make sure you are legally represented and that there are contracts in place so that kind of thing can’t happen and you aren’t suddenly stuck with a baby because they changed their mind. Of course, it gives the intended parents peace of mind too, to make sure you don’t try and keep the baby.”

“So,” Zach starts timidly, “and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want, but do you make a lot of money doing this?” You smile and giggle a bit because right after asking if you get attached, this is the number one question people always ask you.

“Yeah, we do.”

“How much, if you don’t mind me asking,” he continues.  
  
“Well, my personal, agency-set carrier fee is $30,000, and that’s if you’re only carrying one. It’s more if you’re carrying multiples.

“Hoooly cow! Paid all at once or…”

“No. It’s paid monthly once you reach 8 weeks along.”

“They have to pay all the medical bills and stuff too, right?”  Tyler adds, leaning forward to look around Josh.

“Yeah, they have to cover anything associated with the baby or being pregnant, so medical costs, gas mileage, maternity clothing, stuff like that.”

“Wow, surrogacy is expensive.”  
  
“It really is. Just to have the IVF done at the fertility doctor’s office is $25K. Plus everything else and it really adds up. You think about these families that have already struggled with getting pregnant, some who can get pregnant, but can’t stay pregnant and suffered losses... it’s heartbreaking. So when you have people that use surrogacy purely for cosmetic or vanity reasons, it’s insulting.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. You’re amazing. You’re an angel for helping this family. What a great gift you are giving them,” Kelly says, reaching across the table to grasp your hand. You thank her and return your hand to your lap as conversation picks up and goes a different direction, giving you time to just sit and breathe for a minute. You look to your left and Josh is just staring at you with this odd grin on his face.  
  
“What?” you ask nervously.  

“Nothing, that’s just... that’s just really cool.”

Not long after, the entire table is filled with pizzas of several different topping combinations. You take a few of your favorites and sit back, listening to the laughter and easy conversation happening around you.  You’re about halfway through your second piece when you start to feel the familiar shakiness and quickening of your heartbeat.

Scooting away from Josh and out the right side of the booth, you quickly whisper to him and Maddy, “Excuse me for a minute. I just need to use the restroom real quick.”

The restrooms are in an isolated corner where it is much quieter. It’s also much cooler in this one area, thank god for the air conditioning vent in the ceiling right above you. In the hall, they have small benches outside both the men’s and women’s restrooms, so you sit there to collect yourself.

Along with the fast heartbeat and slight shakiness, you feel the tightness right below your breastbone that makes it feel like you can’t get enough air. You know you can, you just can’t convince your body of that fact. You lean over, placing your elbows on your knees and bracket your face with your thumb and first finger, closing your eyes and taking slow, deep breaths. This will pass in a few minutes, it always does.

You feel a hand on your back in between your shoulder blades and the weight of someone sitting next to you. You slowly turn your head to see that it’s Josh.

“Hey, you okay?” he asks, concerned. His hand starts to move slowly up and down your middle back.

“Yeah, I’m fine. This happens sometimes, especially if I wait too long to eat. I’ll get shaky and my body will kinda go into a little bit of a panic mode. Yay hormones, right?” He chuckles a bit at that. “I just didn’t want to do that in front of all of them or freak anyone out, ya know? I’ll be fine in just a couple minutes.”

“Okay. Do you mind if I sit here with you until you’re ready to go back?”

“No, not at all,” you say, offering him a small smile.

It doesn’t take long after that for your breathing and pulse to calm down, and you return to the table together. Conversation resumes like nothing ever happened, the only difference is now Josh sits close and holds your hand for the remainder of dinner, giving a slight squeeze every now and then.

\-----

“Are you sure, Josh?” Maddy asks, handing him the keys to her car. Everyone is outside the front of the restaurant, hugging and saying their goodbyes.  

“Yeah, it's no problem; I can drive her back to the hotel. You’re tired and I don’t mind at all.”

“Alright, I’ll see you when you get back to the house, then. And you,” she says, pointing to you, “my family is having a reunion this week and will be getting together for a BBQ at my house tomorrow evening. You should come by after the wedding.”

“I definitely will. Thanks for tonight, Maddy. You were absolutely right; this place is amazing.” You lean in and give her a hug goodbye, your bellies bumping each other as you do so, causing you both to giggle.

\-----

Both of you are laughing as you open the door to your hotel room.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen The X-Files!” he says in a shocked tone.

“Nope. Not even one episode.”  
  
“Well, you’ll definitely have to fix that sometime. And _soon_ ,” he emphasizes.

You nod your head and sit on your bed, picking up your laptop and handing it over to him. “I tried forever today to get that thing to connect to the wifi, and I just can’t figure it out.”  
  
He takes the laptop from you, opening it up and letting it boot up. “Okay, so what you have to do is click on whatever router they have set up for guests to use.”  
  
“I did that, but then it kept saying it needed a passcode or something.”  
  
“Okay, then what you do is open your browser, and before it’ll let you go anywhere on the internet, it’ll load the hotel’s main page and ask you for your last name and room number to verify you’re a guest here. See?” He turns the laptop around, handing it back to you.

You type in your info, and it connects right away. “Oh my god, thank you! It would’ve taken me forever to figure that out. Honestly, I probably would’ve just given up on it.”  
  
“Well, when you’ve stayed in as many hotels as I have, you pretty much become an expert,” he says, causing you both to laugh.

You’re still focused on your laptop, trying to load up the group chat for the bridesmaids when your thoughts are interrupted.  
  
“Hey, will you wear it for me?” he asks.

“Wear what?”

He points up to your bridesmaid’s dress. “Your dress. You said you’re unsure about it, but I bet it looks stunning on you.”

You feel your cheeks heat up in awkward bashfulness, but you still agree. “Only if you promise not to laugh, even if it looks super bad.”

He holds out his pinky to you which you quickly link with yours. “Pinky promise,” he swears.

“Okay then.” You unhook the dress from the wall and head to the bathroom to change while he turns on and fiddles with something on the tv.

It takes you a few minutes, but once you’ve changed into your dress, you open the bathroom door and call for him to close his eyes. He promises they’re closed and you walk out to the more open part of the room, dress swishing behind you.

It’s a beautiful, a-line, empire-waisted dress in a champagne color.  The lace top has cap sleeves, a deep-V, scalloped neckline and also a deep-V scalloped back. The bottom has a chiffon overlay with lace applique detail on the hem, where it hangs in a small, brush style train.

The dress was also accented with a caramel colored, satin bowknot sash that features a delicate, jeweled center, and ties in the back with tails that travel the length of the dress. It had an overall old-world elegance to it and really was gorgeous, despite your concerns with how it would look when on.  

You turn and stand with your hands clasped behind you. “Okay, you can open your eyes,” you say, barely above a whisper.

He opens his eyes and his mouth opens into a small ‘o’. He stands and starts to slowly walk toward you.

“I don’t know… It’s not… It’s not the best, but… You have to imagine it with the hair and makeup and everything…” you babble, trailing off. Under his scrutiny you feel your palms start to get sweaty as you fidget, pulling on the dress here and there.

“Hey, hey,” he says, lifting your chin up to look at him, “You’re breathtaking.” He takes one of your hands and slowly turns you so you spin in a circle. “Let’s test this thing out, see how she dances.”

He places one hand on the small of your back and lifts your other hand up to form a closed position. He pulls you close, and once you place your hand on his waist, he starts to slowly sway back and forth, moving in a small circular motion, your belly brushing against his waist as you move.   

He glides his hand from the small of your back to one side of your belly, just above your hip bone and slightly to one side of your belly button. He’s not blatantly holding your belly, but he’s not subtle, either.

He stops dancing and turns his head to look at you. “Take me with you.”

“Hmm?” You look up at him, your brow furrowed in confusion.

“Take me with you. Tomorrow. As your plus one.”

“You wanna… go with me… to a wedding?”

“Well, when you look this beautiful in your dress, who could pass up the chance to dance with you?”

You blush and hide your face, telling him you’ll text your friend and tell her you have a plus one after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Edit: So I just found out today, 7/17/17, 10:00 am, that Hounddog's is actually the place where Jenna filmed Tyler singing karaoke not too long ago. I literally had no idea. All I did was look up 'best pizza places in Columbus', and chose from the top 5 based on reviews and aesthetic. I had no clue that it is a place that they had ever actually been to, or that does karaoke. Yay for continuity and real life coincidences.
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter contains some smutty smut. If you are uncomfortable or don't wanna read that, you can skip over that part without missing any major plot points. The only things you need to know is that he is super cautious and very protective of her belly.

You exit the bathroom after changing from your dress into your jammies and notice that he’s pulled up The X-Files on Netflix. You hang your dress back up on the wall as you say, “And what is this? Did you decide I’m fixing my X-Files deficit right this minute?” you tease as you walk back over to the bed to sit.

“You’re not going to go to sleep right away, right? I figured you could watch a few episodes before bed. If anything, it’ll give us something to talk about tomorrow at the wedding. I can fangirl about it and you’ll actually know the character names and who I’m talking about.”

You chuckle at his logic and word choice. “Very true,” you say as you move to put your legs under the covers.  
  
“Alright, don’t fall asleep too early, now. You gotta at least get thru one episode.” He winks and starts to move toward the door, saying his goodbyes.

“Wait! You mean you’re not gonna stay and watch with me? At least the first episode?”

“Oh, thank god!” he exhales excitedly as he turns and leaps onto the bed, kicking off his shoes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

You gaze at him, highly amused before you tease, “Oh my god, just hit play.”

The opening music starts and he looks at you excitedly with a huge smile on his face. The entire episode he’s talking, telling you who is who and what to look for.

When the episode is finished he turns you and says, “So, did you like it?”

“It’s definitely up my alley. Something I can get into.”  
  
“See, I knew you’d like it. X-Files is amazing.”  

The next episode he is much quieter, letting you watch and take in the story.

The episode is still playing and you’re just about to drift off to sleep, your head lulled to the side when you feel what you think is a small, light kiss just along your right jaw. You stir slightly when you feel it again. You’re fully awake now as you feel it for a third time, traveling up your jaw, now just under your ear.  
  
“Josh? What are you doing?”

He looks horrified and actually whimpers before he starts, “I’m sorry. I just… I really like you and you looked so beautiful lying there and I wanted to kiss you so bad and before I knew it-”

“Josh…” you say quietly, ending his babbling so that he is quiet and looking at you, his face twisted with worry. You turn your head and hold his gaze for just a second before you close the distance between you, eyes falling shut and lips meeting in a slow, cautious kiss.

His lips are warm and soft. You can feel the slight stubble from his chin pressing against yours in a slight burn.

You pull back just far enough to glance at his expression, to make sure this was okay. Josh has a look on his face that just says _wantwantwant_ , and he quickly blows out and sucks in a breath before moving in to capture your lips again. This time it’s less slow and more deep, his tongue starts pushing against your lips before you surrender and let him in.

TV show now forgotten in the background, his hand drifts up to cup your jaw as he kisses even deeper, eyes closed, pulling your bottom lip thru his teeth. You hum at that, and he starts to push you onto your back, him leaning over to place kisses and tiny bites down your neck and onto your collar bones.  

You tilt your head so that he has more room to work as your hands start to roam up and down his torso and over his arms. He gives a little nip to one of your collarbones and you whimper, slipping your hands up under his shirt and pushing it up as far as you can get it.

He sits up to remove his shirt, and you follow, letting him pull yours off too. Once you lay back down, he moves to climb on top, but stops and places his hand over your belly and looks at you questioningly, eyebrows raised.

“Don’t worry, you won’t hurt her,” you assure him. He lowers his weight but still doesn’t put his full weight down on you.

His kisses move lower down your chest as his hands find your breasts. He squeezes slightly before pinching and rolling a nipple between his fingers while his mouth attaches to the other, sucking and flicking it with his tongue. You moan as your back arches, hips pushing up on their own, grinding against him.

You both moan at that, and he pushes back to stand at the foot of the bed, grabbing you behind your knees to pull you to the edge.  He hooks his fingers into the band of your sleep shorts and undies, locking eyes with you before starting to pull them both down together.

You raise your hips to help him remove them, and when they’re off, he pushes your legs further apart and slowly trails his hands up your thighs.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers, and your breathing hitches as his hands move higher and higher up your inner thighs, continuing to work closer towards your center.

He wastes no time and lets his fingers slide through your wetness and up to your center. He circles it twice before moving back down and slowly pushes his fingers in, pumping them in and out slowly.

You moan immediately, squirming against the bed as his fingers stretch you and stroke that special spot.

“So wet,” he groans, sinking to his knees, turning his face to leave wet kisses and small bites on the inside of your thigh.  
  
“Because of you,” you gasp, rolling your hips to get him deeper.

He moans in response, removing his fingers to grab your hips. He uses his thumbs to spread you open and immediately moves in to lick your center.  

Your hands fly down and grip his hair as he works. When you do, he lets out a loud moan that vibrates your entire center, causing you to raise your hips and push yourself closer to his face.

He continues to circle your middle with his fingers as he glances up and asks, “Feel good, baby?”

“So good. Feels sooo good.” You roll your hips again. “You’re so good, Josh. God,” you’re panting now, “I’m almost there,” you gasp, flinging your arm over your eyes.

He reaches up and pulls your arm off your face. “No, baby girl. Wanna see you,” he says, moving back down and placing your hand back in his hair. You renew your grip and he picks back up, sucking and licking your mound.

He pushes his fingers back in once, twice, three times and that is it; you are seeing white and feeling that tingly heat spread through your whole body as your thighs quiver around his head.

Once you come down, he stands and you sit up, trailing your hands up his legs before reaching out to unbutton his pants. He is painfully hard and sucks in a breath of air as you slowly lower the zipper. He pulls his lip tightly between his teeth as you start to pull his pants and undies down. When his erection springs free, you glance up at him; his eyes are hooded, his hair is a mess, and his lips are still glistening when he pokes out his tongue to lick those shiny lips. That sight alone makes your stomach flip. You keep eye contact as you lean forward to lick a stripe from base to tip.

“Mmm, baby girl,” he moans before biting his lip again, hands coming up to run through your hair.  You push his pants the rest of the way down so he can step out of them. When he does, you reach out and grip his hips, pulling him closer to you. Leaning forward you lick the head, letting your tongue slip in the slit before taking him in and starting a steady rhythm.

He moans and lets his head fall back while you work, hollowing out your cheeks and swirling your tongue around the head every few bobs.

You continue to work, trailing your hand from his hip around to the front to gently cup and massage his balls.

“Oh god, baby girl. So good,” he moans and his legs start to shake. He stops you, gently pulling away from you before placing his hand on your cheek.

“Move up the bed,” he instructs, pointing with his chin as he speaks. You do so and he again climbs on top with his hand placed on your belly, your legs instinctively falling open to give him more room.  He lines up and leans down, kissing you passionately as he slowly pushes all the way in. He stays in place, and both of you moan, eyes rolling at how good it feels.

“Are you sure this won’t hurt the baby?” he whispers, kissing your jaw and ready to stop immediately if you even hinted that he could hurt her in any way.

“You won’t hurt her, I promise.”

With renewed enthusiasm, he pulls out and thrusts in again, slowly but deeply. He leans down to kiss you again as his hips find a steady rhythm, rocking you both back and forth with his thrusts. You push your hips up to meet him halfway with each thrust as he trails his kisses down your neck, ending up by your ear. You can hear all his little sighs, grunts, and moans, and hearing him like that, falling apart above you… you love it. It’s got you close to your edge again and you feel the heat tightly coil in your belly.

“Joooosh. Josh, I’m close.” He slides his hand from your belly down to your middle and begins to rub quick, tight circles.

“Me too, come with me, baby.”

“God, Josh, feels so good.”  
  
He starts to grunt with each push and a few thrusts later he is groaning out the beginning of his climax, eyes squeezed shut, head thrown back, and mouth open. His sounds are all it takes to push you over that edge again, and the two of you ride out your bliss together.

He kisses you again before catching your gaze, running his hand through your hair and pushing it back and out of your face. The movement is so gentle, so sweet. You gaze back. You want to say something but are unsure what to say, so you just lean up flick the tip of his nose with yours. He giggles and gently rolls off to the side. You catch your breath for a few more seconds before getting up to grab your clothes and redress.

You pick up the garments and sit back on the bed, handing him his undies before slipping your shirt back on. He looks up and raises an eyebrow at you. “Only the undies?”

“Will you stay?”

He quickly slips his underwear back on and lays back, holding his arms open to you.

“Gladly,” he replies, gesturing grabby hands at you. You go willingly and he pulls the covers up over you both. You allow him to pull you closer to him, making you the little spoon. His hand rests protectively on your belly throughout the night.

\-----

The next morning, your phone alarm goes off way before you’re ready to see sunlight. You groan and reach to turn off the offending noise, noticing he still has his hand over your belly, making it hard to move. He rubs it up and down a few times before you hear him say, “Good morning, Sunshine.”

“It’d be good if I could go back to sleep. Besides, with that hair, I think _you’re_ the one who’s Sunshine.” he chuckles and rolls over, pulling the covers back to stand up.

“Is there anything I can do to help you get ready? Want me to go downstairs and get us some coffee?” he asks, pulling on his pants.

“Nah, I’m not much of a coffee person -” you stop mid-sentence when you hear him gasp, loudly. The look of pure shock and horror on his face is hilarious.

“Not much of a coffee person? That’s blasphemy!” he teases. “But you’re right, I guess you’re not allowed to have coffee while pregnant anyway, right?”

“No, you can have coffee and caffeine, just not excessively. You can still have your daily coffee, tea, soda or whatever, just in moderation. You’re even allowed to have a daily glass of wine if you want, but I’m not an alcohol person, so I just stick to my tea. I’m afraid I’d go crazy without my iced tea.”

“Noted. Okay, do you mind if I run and grab myself something? I promise I’ll be quick.”

“You don’t have to have _my_ permission, but here,” you walk over to your nightstand and pick up the door key, “here’s the key card so you can get back in. I’m gonna take a quick shower.”

He takes the key card and moves like he’s going to kiss your head, but stops just short of doing so. You see a blush creep up his cheeks as he bashfully looks down at his feet before he takes a step back.

He gives you a flustered smile before walking to the door, turning when he’s halfway out, “Ok, I’ll be right back,” he says, making quick eye contact before dropping it back to the floor.

You raise your hand and wiggle your fingers as he shuts the door. After he’s gone, you grab some comfy clothes to change into after your shower and head to the bathroom, making a mental list of everything you need to take with you to the venue.

You hear the room door open several minutes later, just as Josh calls out, “Don’t worry, it’s just me. I’ll be in the sitting area.”

“Okay. I’m almost done,” you call back, trying to quickly get your hair washed and legs shaved. You rush thru the remainder of your shower, glancing at your phone sitting on the counter to check the time as you step out. It’s already 9:23. _‘Shoot_ ,’ you say to yourself and quickly dry off, twisting the towel around your head.

You throw on your sweats, socks, and a baggy t-shirt, rubbing your hair with the towel one last time before exiting the bathroom.

“I didn’t realize what time it was. I might just have to skip-” stop mid-sentence when you see him standing there, a large cup of iced tea in one hand and a muffin in the other, holding them out to you.

“I hope you weren’t about to say, ‘skip breakfast’. I didn’t know what kind of muffins you liked, so I just went with chocolate chocolate chip. Hope that’s okay,” he says, that blush creeping back onto his cheeks.

“Okay? Josh, this is perfect. You’re a saint,” you say, taking the items from him and moving to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you, very much, Josh.”

You turn around to sit on the bed and miss seeing him grinning, lifting his hand to his cheek where you’d kissed him.

“Okay, so it’s about 9:25-9:30. I need to be at the venue about 10:00… How far away is the venue from here?” you ask, raising your eyes to meet his, taking another bite of your muffin.

“It’s about 15- 20 min. I’ll drive you. You’ll get there in plenty of time, promise.”

You take a sip of your tea and smile up at him before standing up. “Alright, all I need to do is get the dress packed back up and gather my stuff.”

“I’ll take care of the dress if you wanna pack your things.” You nod and start to move about the room, throwing all the stuff you’re gonna need for the wedding into your backpack.

Once you have everything, you put your shoes on and go to throw your backpack over your shoulders, “No, no, no. Here. Let me carry that for you. You can carry the dress,” Josh says, moving quickly to take the backpack from you.

“It’s okay, I can carry the bag… but I must say, you do look pretty good sporting a baby blue and white polka dotted backpack,” you say giggling as he throws it over his shoulders.

“Girl, you know it!” he says, snapping his fingers and you crack up. You’re still laughing when you grab the rest of your drink and muffin to head to the car.

He drives you to the wedding location, driving you right up to the doors. You both exit the car and he hands you your backpack and dress from the trunk.

“Okay,” you say, glancing at your phone’s clock, “it’s near 10:00 now, the wedding starts at 1:00 and the reception at 2:30. Think you can make it by then?”

“Oh, you know me, I’ll be here to ruin more wedding photos with my bright hair and loud crying,” he teases with a wide smile.

“Alright, I’ll see you then.” You move in and give him a quick hug before disappearing into the building.

He gets back into the car and sends Tyler a text before driving back.

Outgoing to

Tyler Broseph: Dude… we gotta talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

The rest of your morning is filled with makeup, bobby pins, photos, and hairspray… lots and lots of hairspray. It’s getting closer to go time, only about 15 minutes remain until the wedding party is due to take their places before walking the aisle.

Incoming from

UNKNOWN: Hey it’s josh. Can’t wait to see you!

 

Outgoing:

and how, may I ask, did you get this number ;-)

 

Incoming from

Josh: I may or may not have threatened to hide Maddy’s favorite snacks from her if she didn’t give it to me

 

Outgoing:

*gasp* Don’t you know better than to take a pregnant girl’s food?!

 

Incoming from

Josh: I know. I actually would never. Besides, she owed me.

 

Outgoing:

Well, in that case, I’ll be the pregnant one on the Bride’s side. Can’t miss me.

 

Incoming from

Josh: can’t wait

 

The chosen music starts and you take the arm of your assigned groomsman to proceed down the aisle. You easily spot Josh on your way up and even though you have to remain facing forward, you can’t help but grin from ear to ear.

Once you are in place on the bride’s side and the bridal march starts, the congregation turns and stands. Your heart fills with pride and maybe a little bit of envy as you watch your childhood friend walk slowly toward her soon-to-be husband.

The pastor begins the ceremony and you allow your eyes to wander. You can’t miss the bright yellow shock of hair coming from the bride’s side, and you take your time studying him. He always looks good, but today he looks remarkably sharp, even in his simple, plain white button-up with simple black tie, pants, shoes, and jacket,  of which he has removed and placed next to him on the pew.

His eyes flick from the bride and groom to where you stand and you make quick eye contact, finally able to give him a sweet smile before turning your attention back to the ceremony.  

When the vows start, you once again allow your eyes to wander to Josh. This time you notice he keeps wiping at his eyes. Is he crying? Was he serious about the bright hair and crying thing?

“Here you go, dearie,” an old lady sitting next to Josh leans over and says in a hushed tone, handing him a few Kleenex from a pocket tissue pack. “Weddings always did get to me too. We’re romantics.”

“That we are. Thank you, Ma’am. I appreciate it,” he murmurs, lifting the Kleenex up at her in appreciation, then dabbing at his eyes.

“Please, call me Mavis.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mavis. I’m Josh.”

“So, are you married, or soon to be?”

Josh smiles politely and glances over at you, catching your gaze. He winks and nods before answering, “Not yet, but I’m hoping that’ll happen soon.”

“Well, good luck to you, dear.” She pats the back of his hand and both turn their attention back up to the front. The vows and rings have been exchanged and the pastor is getting ready to announce them to the guests.

“Friends, it is with great pleasure that I give to you, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Sven, you may kiss your bride.”

The couple kiss and the congregation stands and applauds while some whooping and whistling can be heard throughout. When the exit music begins, the bride and groom make their way back up the aisle, the bridal party following soon after.  You smile widely at Josh as you pass him on your way down, and he smiles back, waving at you as you go.

As the guests all file out to head to the reception hall, Mavis turns to Josh with a grin, “Well, maybe you won’t be needing such luck after all.”

Josh hopes not.   

\-----

Once the introductions, toasts, and first dances are complete, the dance floor opens and guests are free to move about the reception hall.  

It’s a larger room built for such occasions and has several round tables with six gold-painted wooden chairs each. Every table has a white linen tablecloth, a small white flower centerpiece, several short vases filled with water and white or cream colored floating candles, a place setting of china and cutlery with a cream-colored cloth napkin, and finished off with a glass goblet filled with ice water.

There are several champagne colored drapings hung against the walls and from the ceilings that when combined with the low lighting and candlelight, cast a warm, glow throughout the room.

You stand from your place at the head table, walking around the sides of the dance floor to scan the room, looking for Josh. You spot him at a table toward the back. He has his sleeves rolled up now, talking with another gentleman, smiling and gesturing to his yellow hair.

You slowly approach him and when he sees you, he stops mid-sentence to stare. You dramatically curtsey before him, standing again to say, “Excuse me, kind Sir, but I am in need of a handsome man, like yourself, to accompany me on the dance floor. Do you think you could be so kind as to do me the honor?”  You finish your silly impersonation, gazing up at him and dramatically batting your eyelashes.

He quickly glances over to the guy he was talking to, with an expression that clearly says, _‘oh my gosh, are you seeing this?’_ , to which the guy replies, “Dude, don’t let me keep you,” he finishes, raising his hands and shaking his head.

Josh stands, then bends at the waist to kiss the top of your hand.

“It would be my pleasure, M’Lady,” he says, standing back up and tugging your hand to lead you to the dance floor.

A new song starts to play on your way up, and slow acoustic guitar fills the room. Josh leads you to the center of the dance floor, pulling you close to him and starting to sway, just as he had the night before, as the lyrics begin.  

_Forever can never be long enough for me to feel like I’ve had long enough with you._

“Aww, I love this song. It’s so sweet and adorable, especially for a wedding,” you gush.

“You know what I think is sweet and adorable?” Josh says. “You.” You feel your cheeks flush and cast your gaze down.

“You know,” he continues, “it’s not fair to look more beautiful than the bride on her big day.”

You turn your face and bury it in his chest in embarrassment. “Joooooosh,” you whine.

“I’m serious. Hey,” he says, looking down and lifting your chin with his finger to look him in the face, “you look gorgeous.” He had slowly stopped swaying in favor of staring down at you.

The song continues to play and other couples continue to dance as the two of you stand still, lost in each other. You stare up at him as you softly say, “Now, Mr. Dun, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were flirting with me.”

“I do know better, and I say you’re right,” he murmurs back, flicking his eyes back and forth between each of yours, too close to make contact with both. You feel his hand glide from the small of your back around to your belly, again much like the night before, but this time he allows his thumb to rub back and forth.

_I promise to sing to you when all the music dies. And marry me_

He blinks slowly, moving his face closer and closer to yours, giving you plenty of time to back out if you wanted to. You suddenly have a million butterflies in your stomach, all threatening to escape at the same time. When you show no signs of rejection, he finally swallows his nerves and leans down, connecting your lips.

\-----

It’s about 7:30 pm when you leave the wedding and head to Maddy’s house. When you arrive, the whole family is there; everyone has lawn chairs spread throughout the yard and is sitting and relaxing, enjoying each other’s company as some of the guys hover around the delicious smelling grill.

Lightening bugs are out and the sun has started its descent, making the evening cooler and not so harshly bright. It’s serene and comfortable.

“Heyyy, you guys finally made it!” Tyler says as you walk up the driveway towards the house. You’re still in your dress and Josh still in his suit, minus the jacket, of course.

“Wow, you guys look fantastic. Kat, that dress is GORGEOUS!” Jenna raves.

Josh nudges your side with his elbow. “See, I told ya,” he whispers.

“Thanks guys. But after being stuck in this thing for about 9 hours, I cannot get out of it fast enough. Do you have somewhere I can change?

“Yeah, follow me,” Maddy says, gesturing for you to follow her inside.

It takes you a while to untie the bows and wiggle out of the dress, but once you change, you feel remarkably more comfortable. You’re wearing a loose fitting black and white striped shirt, black skinny jeans, and converse. The only thing better, in your opinion, would be pajamas.

You hang the dress up on the back of the front closet door and set your backpack there as well before walking back outside. You walk down the porch steps and join the others, sitting in an empty camping chair next to Josh, who you notice has changed clothes as well.  
  
As you sit, you hear Josh audibly gasp, followed by, “Are you wearing skinny jeans?” Josh says, mildly shocked.

“Yep. Totally. They make ‘em for pregnant girls too,” you sass, laughing outright when Maddy starts to chuckle.

“Oh my god, I think I love you,” Josh says, and you just roll your eyes and smack his leg playfully, turning to chat excitedly with Jenna and Maddy about the wedding. You don’t see it, but he sighs deeply, continuing to watch you fondly.

Tyler doesn’t miss a thing.   

Your phone starts ringing and you glance down to see that it’s your mom.  “Hey, I’ll be right back,” you say, standing up, Josh standing as well. “It’s my mom.” You walk past the guys at the grill to the side of the house to take the call.

Josh continues to stand there, watching you and smiling goofily. Tyler, still sitting in his lawn chair, calls him out on it.

“Hey, close your mouth, man. You’re gonna catch flies,” he teases, nudging Josh’s knee out from under him with his toe.

“Oh man, Ty… I think… I think I might actually be falling for her, man.” He sighs and continues to stare as you aimlessly pace back and forth, throwing your head back to laugh at something your mom said. Tyler and Jenna just exchange silent, shocked expressions, both eventually grinning widely.

“Oh yeah? What makes you say that?” Tyler probes, mischievous grin on his face.  

“Yeah,” Josh says dreamily, drawing out the word and turning to Tyler, “She’s just so…” he starts to elaborate, but you’ve started to walk back, causing Josh to quickly stop talking and sit back down in his chair, the subject dropped, for now. 

“Well, I guess they’ve all gone down to the lake and plan to do some fishing, jet skiing, and whatever else they wanna do down there and won’t be back for about another week,” you inform them.  “Maybe I should extend my stay here in Columbus, see some of the other things I wouldn’t have had time for.”

“YES! Do it! And you can stay here with us. We’re having everyone over for the reunion this week anyway. There’s plenty of rooms, already set up.”

Josh is smiling so hard his face might just crack apart.

\-----

It’s now approaching midnight and everyone has long since moved inside the house for game time. Everyone is situated around the dining table in a heated game of Taboo. You started off on assigned teams, but now it’s pretty much a guys vs girls shout-fest, and you’ve been laughing so hard your cheeks and sides hurt.

Sodas, wine, and coffee have been passed around for those that want them, and several people are indulging in another slice of pie as the game goes on, which makes for its own entertainment in itself. A badly timed bite of pie can result in food being launched or spat out as something hilarious is said during the game and you can’t control your laughter.

“So, you guys do this every year?” you ask, scooping up another bite of Jenna’s delicious, homemade dutch apple pie and french vanilla ice cream.

“Yeah!” Maddy starts, excited to fill you in. “Every summer we all get together for a week for a reunion. Someone different hosts it each year, and we all, as much as we can, stay over at the host’s house for the entire week of the reunion. There’s always tons of food, stories, pictures, people usually bring out their guitars… or ukuleles in Ty’s case. We always play nightly games and I’ll do the girls’ nails. One year we even experimented with some henna tattoos. It was so fun.”

“Next card! Next card! Skip! Skip! Hurry!” you hear one of the guys shout, all three of you looking over to giggle at their excitement.  

“Tyler and Josh haven’t got to attend the past couple of years, so having them home this year is really special.”

“Well, I’m glad I got invited to tag along. This is really great of you guys to let me hang out with you all. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

“Oh please. We love having you here,” Maddy says sincerely.

“Plus,” Jenna says, lowering her voice to a whisper, “Josh really seems to have taken a liking you.” You duck your head to try and hide your blush but it’s pointless.  

“OH MY GOSH!” she stage whispers, turning to Maddy with wide eyes. “Do you like him too?” You don’t even have time to answer before they’re both squealing and grabbing each other’s hands excitedly.

“And what are you all giggling about over here?” Josh teases, coming over to squat down next to your chair. Of course he would pick this exact moment to come over.

“Oh, you know, just girl stuff,” Jenna quickly supplies.

“Fair enough,” he nods and turns his attention back to you. “You doing okay? Do you need anything? Do I need to take you back to the hotel soon?”

You open your mouth to reply, but Maddy beats you to it. “Nah, it’s already late; you guys can just stay here tonight. We can swing by and pick up her stuff from the hotel tomorrow before checkout.”

He nods in agreement with her and turns his attention back to you. “You need a drink or anything? I’m heading in there myself,” he says, pointing over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

“No, Josh, I’m good. Thank you.”

“Alright,” he says, standing, “and I think it’s your turn again, girls.”  
  
“Nah, you guys go ahead without us. I think we’re done for the night,” Jenna tells him.

With that, he turns and walks into the kitchen area. Jenna and Maddy are instantly back to giggling and whispering.

“See? Oh my gosh. He totally likes you.”

“Nah, he was just being polite, you know, since I’m a guest and all.”

“Girl, NO ONE looks at a guest the way that boy looks at you,” Maddy says flatly.

“Yeah, he looks at you like you hung the stars, and you know how much he likes space,” Jenna says, nudging your knee with her hand.

Suddenly the noise at the other end of the table picks up and you all turn to see what’s going on. The other guys have quit the game as well, and now it’s just Tyler and Josh, Tyler reading off the cards and seeing how many cards they can guess before the timer runs out. The other guys have crowded around as Tyler reads as fast as he can, already up to about 6 cards.

“Uh… you crack these.”

“Eggs!”

“It’s like… like a code-”

The buzzer goes off and Jay shouts, “CODE! Can’t say code!”

“Dang it!” Tyler exclaims as he throws the card down on the floor forcefully. “Okay, okay, uuuh…” He puckers up and makes a kissing noise.

“KISS!”

“YES!” Tyler has started to get really into and is leaning on the table with his butt off the chair.

“Ok, uh… every day you put this on first,” he says, miming pulling up pants.

“Underwear!”

“Yes!” He’s getting more into it and now both boys are standing. “It’s something you… uh… you do at the beach, at night.”  
  
Josh is blushing as he answers, “Make out?”

“Sort of… you do this without,” and then Tyler starts tugging on the shoulder of his shirt. Josh just gives him a confused look, sure that he can’t mean what he thinks he means.

Tyler starts jumping up and down at this point, and you and the other girls are just dying laughing, Jenna having pulled out her phone to record.  

“It’s when… it’s when you get into the ocean without anything on and-”

“Skinny-dipping!”

“Yes!”

“Time!”

“WHOOO!” Tyler and Josh both throw their arms up in the air and start whooping at how many cards they were able to get.

Still chuckling, you stand to take your plate to the kitchen as Josh comes rushing over, still excited about the game.

“Did you see that? Did you see how many we got?” he says, raising his hands for a double high five.

“Yeah! You guys did great.” You set your plate back down and clap his hands, smiling and giggling with him, except he doesn’t stop there. He quickly leans in and places a kiss right on your lips… right… in front… of everyone.  

He takes a slight step just that much closer, and you feel his hand come to rest on your belly as he breaks the kiss. He’s still staring down at you when both you realize, belatedly, that the entire room had gone quiet and everyone was turned, focused on the two of you.

Tyler looked exceedingly proud, but Maddy and Jenna couldn’t look more smug if they tried.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came like pulling teeth. IDK why it was being so difficult, but it's finally ready and here. 
> 
> I do have to give a special shoutout to my friend [jvshduns](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jvshduns), whom without which, I would've struggled even more so. She's always there to read what I have so far and give advice, and I super appreciate it and love you for it. Thank you so much!
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a tiny bit more smut at the end of this one, but it's not bad and actually very sweet. 
> 
> Also, thank you for your patience! I like to post at LEAST once per week... and this chapter ended up being a monster! It's longer than the others (I aim for about 3k per chapter, and this one is pushing 4k as it stands, and got up to 5k at one point). I cut several bits out that i will use in later chapters, but once it got to this point, there was nothing more I could trim and still have the chapter flow like it needed to. So, as an apology for taking so long, please accept these extra 1k words. <3

When you wake up Saturday morning, it’s to an empty house. You make your way downstairs and into the kitchen to find a note sitting on the kitchen counter near the sink.

 

_Kat -_

_Went out to run a few errands and didn’t want to wake you. Should be back near lunch time._

_Please make yourself at home._

_P.s. Josh and I are swinging by the hotel to grab your stuff before he heads off to the studio. I’ll bring it with me when I come back._

_-Maddy_

 

Placing the note back on the counter, you begin to glance around the dining area and kitchen.  You chuckle to yourself as you see the taboo game, still open and cards strewn about, along with other remains of last night’s fun. You decide that since you are a guest in their home, the least you could do is help tidy up.

Maddy’s house is set up very much like a log cabin or cottage, only much larger. When you first walk in from the front porch, you enter a small foyer where there’s a small coat closet to your left. Straight ahead is a sunken living room that features large, tall windows on the back wall and a cozy brick fireplace in the right corner.

Just past the foyer and to the left is the dining and kitchen area. The sink, stove, and counters are set up in a ‘U’ shape, with the dining table set up across the room opposite from the stove. On the other side of the counters, against the far wall is a breakfast bar that is currently filled with all kinds of baked goodies made by Jenna; a small hallway right next to it that leads to a bathroom and a small office. Just opposite of the breakfast bar is a smaller breakfast table, and then a family room with stairs leading up to the upstairs bedrooms just to the left of the table.

The first thing you do is to pick up the Taboo game, making sure you have all the cards put back in the box, even the ones that had made their way to the floor and under the table. Then you move on to gathering and removing trash, taking the dishes to the kitchen, wiping down the surfaces, loading the dishwasher, and finally, vacuuming.

You’ve just finished vacuuming and are wrapping the power cord back up when the front door flies open and Will and Jay start setting armfuls of grocery bags just inside the door before returning to the car for more bags.

You put the vacuum back inside the front closet, and then head to the kitchen to help Maddy unpack the bags and put items away.

“Hey, Kat, how was your morning?” she asks, standing at the counter and unloading a grocery bag of baking goods.

“Good. I ended up sleeping until about an hour or so ago, actually. And hey, thanks for going by and grabbing my stuff from the hotel,” you say, walking around to put a gallon of milk and a tub of butter in the fridge.

“I should be thanking you. You didn’t have to clean the house, you know.”

“Please, it’s the least I could do for all you’ve done,” you say, walking back around, picking up another few bags and setting them on the counter.

“Still, thank you. Lord knows I’m not much of a stickler for being tidy. I’m more of a ‘ _meh, I’ll get to it later_ ’, kind of person.”

You both laugh and you hear a few car doors being closed as you’re unpacking several bags of chips.  

“Hey, hey! We’re back,” you hear Tyler call from the foyer. Suddenly you feel warm, strong arms being wrapped around you from behind, and a hand finding what seems to be its new favorite spot over your belly.

“Hey, there she is,” Josh says in a quiet, low voice, leaning in and turning his head to place a kiss on your cheek. “How was your day?”

You spin around in his arms to face him, your belly pushing against his flat stomach and say, “Good, but better now that you’re here.” His face immediately lights up into one of his signature smiles, eyes crinkling at the sides. Blinking slowly, he tilts his head and stares down into your eyes, lifting his hand to cup your face, rubbing his thumb along your jaw.

He’s just about to lean down for a kiss when Jenna cuts in, “Okay, okay, shoo! Shoo! All boys, out of the kitchen; us girls have got this,” she says, literally pushing Tyler into the living room with palms flat against the small of his back. “I know there’s gotta be a video game tournament or something with all your names on it in there.”

After pushing Tyler past the archway, she turns and rolls her eyes, placing her hands on her hips and huffing before walking over and literally dragging Josh away by his arm. “That goes for you too, lover boy.” He just giggles and lets her drag him away into the living room.

Once all the boys are out of the kitchen, she drops her stern facade and comes running up to you and Maddy, grabbing both of your hands and dragging you over to the smaller breakfast table.  
  
“Oh my gosh, you guys, oh my gosh!” she stage-whispers, obviously over-excited but trying to keep quiet.

Maddy’s eyes widen as she sits in one of the chairs. “What? What happened? What’s going on?”

“You’ll never guess what Tyler told me that Josh said at the studio today!” Jenna says, trying her hardest to hold in her excitement. Maddy sucks in a big breath and your eyes join hers in going wide.

“What?! What did he say?” you inquire, shaking your head to get her to hurry up and spit it out.

She turns to you, grinning wide, eyebrows raised, and blue eyes sparkling with excitement, “He said that he’s definitely falling for you.” Maddy gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. They make eye contact and her and Maddy squeal.

“Are you serious?” Maddy asks. “He said that?! Like, those were his words?” You are suddenly unable to move, rooted to the spot, mouth slightly agape.

“Actually, he said that he already has fallen. Like, past tense. Already head over heels. Like, the big ‘L’.”

You don’t hear the last part of Jenna’s sentence, everything seeming unreal and far away. You are shocked and in disbelief. Josh… likes you? Like, ‘ _like’_ likes you? Maybe even loves you? How can this be? This has all got to be some kind of dream. No way is this your reality right now.

Before you even realize it, your eyes are burning and hot tears start to stream down your face. You are thrilled that Josh thinks of you that way, but at the same time you are overwhelmed and you just can’t control the tears that fall.

Josh, once again with his impeccable timing, comes walking into the kitchen. He’s walking toward the fridge but has his head turned back over his shoulder, still talking to one of the guys.  
  
“Okay, I got it. I’ll grab you one too, dude,” he says turning around. You quickly try to hide the fact that you were crying, but he catches you anyway and comes rushing over.

“Hey, hey, hey…”  he says quickly and quietly, pulling at your arm to stand you up, into his arms. “Are you okay? What happened?” He turns a stern face to the girls at the table, cupping the back of your head and holding it to his chest. “Alright, who made her cry?” He looked both worried and concerned that someone could have upset you in some way.

You pull back just enough to look him in the face. “No, no, it’s nothing like that,” you say, swiping your hand across your cheeks. He looks down at you, not 100% convinced. “It’s just hormones. Promise. You know how us pregnant girls get sometimes.”

“Oh. Yep. Totally. Hormones are killer,” Maddy quickly speaks up, patting the top of her belly and trying to help reassure and placate him.

“I’m okay, I promise. Just… emotional,” you soothe, offering a small smile.

“Alright. As long as you’re sure.” He pulls you into a tight hug again and kisses your forehead before returning to his drink-getting duties. You sit back down at the table, wiping your eyes again and quietly apologizing to the girls.

“Seriously, are you okay though? I didn’t mean to freak you out,” Jenna asks once he retreats back to the living room. She reaches over and rubs her flat palm in between your shoulder blades, her face full of concern.

“No, really, I am fine. I’m not freaked out… okay, maybe a little bit freaked out, but, I just got a bit overwhelmed. I mean, I haven’t been in a relationship in such a long time… several years actually… haven’t even really been looking, so this just... kinda took me by surprise. Especially while in this state,” you say, gesturing down to your growing belly.

“Please. A baby belly’s not gonna deter Josh. He can’t wait to start a family. He talks about it a lot. Actually, he has ever since we first met him. Isn’t that right, Jenna?”

“Oh yeah. He can’t wait to be a husband and a dad.”

“The ladies at church are always trying to marry him off. It’s hilarious.”

“Speaking of church, you should come with us tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t even have anything with me to wear. I only brought casual clothes and wedding clothes.”

“Oh, you know what this means?”

“SHOPPING!!” Maddy and Jenna shout together.

\-----

Later that night, Jenna teaches you how to make her pan-fried chicken, and it’s delicious. You’re all crowded at the table having the fried chicken, corn on the cob, some homemade potato salad that Maddy made, and cherry fluff for dessert.

There is now a pitcher of iced tea kept in the fridge just for you, and as you lift your glass and take a long drink, you’re grateful for it. Apparently, the baby appreciates it too, as she is very active during dinner.

“Wow, she is moving a lot tonight,” you say, looking down at your belly.

“Really? Can I feel her?” Josh asks, reaching his hand out to rest on your belly.

“Well, actually, I don’t think you can just yet. She’s big enough where I can feel her movements on the inside, but I don’t think you’ll be able to feel her from the outside for another month or so.” He looks kind of disappointed but leaves his hand where it is, rubbing back and forth and turning back to his dinner.

“Have you felt your baby move yet, Maddy?”

“I have felt some tiny flutters and a few nudges, but no big movement yet.”

“With it being your first, I’m not surprised. Usually, you don’t feel movement until a little later in pregnancy if it’s your first.”

“Man, with all this food, I think _I’m_ pregnant too,” Tyler says, sitting back in his chair, stretching and groaning.

“Yeah, pregnant with a food baby, maybe,” Jenna teases, poking him in his swollen gut.

“Girls, this food is fantastic, but I don’t think I could eat another bite. I’m so full,” he adds.  

“Why don’t you guys go ahead and get a movie picked out and set up in the living room.  We’ll get all this food put away and join you in a few.”

He just nods and stands, taking his plate to the sink before shuffling off to the living room, scratching at his full belly as he goes.

When you join them in the living room, Josh has claimed the loveseat and pats the seat next to him. You sit down and see that they have picked out Now You See Me 2.

“Oh my gosh, yes! I’ve been wanting to see this!” you say excitedly.

“Right? The first one was soo good!” Josh says back, just as excited.

“I love magic and illusionists,” you add, pulling your feet up beside you onto the couch.

Unfortunately, your body has other ideas as it starts to sag about halfway through the movie. Josh notices your body slumping, head laid on the back of the couch, big yawns coming from you every now and then. He taps your shoulder, leaning forward to whisper ‘come here’, into your ear before slightly pulling back on that same shoulder. He shifts a bit, leaning onto the arm of the loveseat and pulling one leg up, letting you settle in between and lean back against him to lay your head on his chest.

He lets his arms slide under yours and around your waist, hands coming to rest on your lower stomach. You place an arm over one of his and absent-mindedly rub the back of his hand and lower forearm with your nails. He stays like that for a few minutes before you feel him lay his head against yours, letting out a contented sigh and embracing you slightly in a small hug.

Josh is warm. He is warm and comfortable and you feel completely safe with his arms around you. The next thing you know, you’re being gently shaken awake about ¾ through the movie.

He leans down and whispers in your ear, “I think we should get you to bed.”

You shake your head in agreement as you sit up. He announces to everyone that you’re going to head to bed, and they all say their goodnights.

\-----

I’m so glad they’re being so nice to me,” you call from inside the bathroom, changing into your pajamas. You’re trying to decide if you wanna just wear the pajama shorts as underwear, or just wear a longer shirt and call it good.

“Oh puh-lease,” you hear before opening the bathroom door and walking to the bed. “They’d add you to the family tomorrow if I gave them the okay,” he teases, pulling the covers back for you. You climb in and lay back.

“Good, cause I’d m-” you stop mid-sentence, eyes going wide and clapping a hand over your mouth.

“What?” he presses, but you don’t answer, just look at him wide-eyed and scared.

“Whaaat?!” he begs, his face breaking out into a wide, mischievous smile, his tongue barely poking out between his teeth. “Tell me what you were gonna say.” You only remove your hand from your mouth and vigorously shake your head no.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m gonna have to force it out of you,” he says, raising his hand up like a claw and hovering it over your ribs. When you don’t immediately move or make any attempt to explain further, he pounces, tickling your ribs and causing you to flail about, twisting your body back and forth trying to get away.

“Okay. Okay!” you gasp out between fits of laughter. “I give. I give!”

He settles next to you, lying on his side, arm bent to prop up his head. It reminds you of when you used to have sleepovers as a teen and you would tell each other secrets and about the current gossip going around the school.

You take a deep breath and release quickly, trying to steady your nerves. “You said they’d add me to the family tomorrow if you told them it was okay, and I was gonna say… good, because… Idmarryyoutomorrowifyoudletme.”

Your hands immediately fly up to cover your face after your confession and you can literally feel yourself blushing over your entire body.

You lay there for a few silent moments, moments that feel like hours before he speaks.   

“Hey Kat,” he says softly, and you don’t move, only spread your fingers a bit to peek out at him. He’s smiling fondly, and sort of looks like he could cry at any minute. He moves a hand up to brush a lock of your hair back.

“Can you move your hands so I can kiss you now?"

You tentatively move your hands and finally look up at him fully. His face is full of tenderness and affection. He leans down and very slowly connects your lips for a soft, gentle kiss.

He pulls back, smiling happily as he sits up and says, “You wanna know something?”

You shake your head ‘yes’, urging him to continue.

“Earlier today I was talking to Tyler, and I told him how I was falling in love with you.” You raise your eyebrows in a shocked expression but don’t say anything. You sit up, needing to be at eye level with him.

“Actually, I told him that I wasn’t even falling anymore. I already fell. I fell fast and I fell hard. I’m already totally, and completely in love with you.”

With his confession, you suddenly have a million butterflies in your stomach. You feel your hands start to shake and your heart pound. You can’t stop the smile from spreading on your face, nor can you stop the tears that pool in your eyes.

Blinking them away and reaching out, you place your hand on his cheek. “Josh…” you whisper, pulling his face to yours for a slow, gentle kiss. When you pull away, you look deep into his chocolate eyes, making sure he knows the sincerity of what you are about to say.

“I am sooo, so in love with you.”

He whimpers as he surges forward and kisses you again, this time stronger and deeper. He cradles your face in his hands, and you can feel every bit of love, want, and need that he is pouring into his kisses, and you reciprocate it right back to him.

He hums as he detaches from your lips to move to your jaw. “How are you real?” he whispers hotly, trailing wet kisses down your neck.

“I've been asking myself the same thing about you,” you reply as you pull him back to your lips. You raise up to your knees and he follows, not wanting to be away from your mouth any more than he has to be. You pull his bottom lip in between your teeth, releasing him slowly as you reach down, pulling his shorts and undies down to his knees.

He sits back on his feet, and you place yourself in his lap, straddling him. You lean forward to capture him in another kiss, and he wraps his arms around your back, sighing into the kiss. You sit slightly more forward, pulling your long shirt up around your waist. You feel him already lined up to your entrance, so you sit back and up, taking him in all at once.  

His skin erupts in goosebumps, his eyes rolling and his head flying back as he moans out, biting his lip. “Oh god, baby girl,” he gasps, already gone.

You raise yourself up slowly and drop back down. “Jooosh,” you moan. His hands move from your back to your butt to help your movements.

You place your hands on his shoulders and repeat your movements, him helping to lift you up and pull you back down onto his lap.

“Josh, you feel so good,” you whisper breathlessly.

Up. Down.

“God, it’s like you were made just for me.” He whimpers upon hearing you say that, burying his face in your neck.

“God, I love you so much,” he says, starting to lift his hips up to meet you as you begin to rock together.

He is thrusting more vigorously now, and you lean forward to trail kisses along his jaw as you push back onto him more forcefully.

He moans loudly, starting to pant.

“Unng. I’m not going to last... oh god,” he gasps out. You’re both drunk on each other, your newfound love confessions amping up your emotions and pushing you quickly towards your climax.

“Me either. So close.”  You trail your hand from his shoulder to the back of his head, fingernails grazing his neck before threading through his hair. He lifts his head, placing his cheek against yours as he starts to tip over. You turn your head, placing a kiss on his cheek before whispering into his ear, “I love you, Josh.”

And that’s it. His body starts to shake as his climax overtakes him, his head flying back, eyes rolling, and small whimpers escaping his lips.

His sounds only fuel your flame, making your stomach swim and veins light on fire, pushing you over your edge as well.

Neither of you move for a moment, only sitting together, embracing each other tightly. You gently run your fingertips up and down his back, just a small gesture of loving affection for him as you lay your head on his shoulder, placing small, chaste kisses on his neck every so often.

He sighs contentedly and turns his head to nuzzle his nose against yours.

“I want… I want you t-” Josh starts to quietly stutter out, obviously nervous about what he’s about to say. “Tell me if this is too weird, or too sudden… and feel free to say no… but… while you’re still here, I’d really like you to meet my mom.”

“Josh, that’s not weird. That’s not weird at all. I’d love to meet your family.”

He squeezes you tightly one last time before he helps you lay down, lying right next to you. You roll to your side and face him, and he invites you in, pulling you tight against his warm body.

He places a kiss to your forehead and trails his hand down your side before coming to rest on your belly.

Humming happily, he whispers, “I love you so much.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	6. Chapter 6

"Robert Heinlein said, _‘Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.’_ We can apply that to our own lives by making sure that once you find love, you don’t let it go. Don’t let it pass you by. Hold on to it like it’s your lifeline… because it is. Thank you all for joining us today. Have a blessed week."

You all stand from your seats after the sermon is over, as everyone begins to move out to the lobby to mingle amongst the other church goers.

You meet some of Josh and Tyler’s old family friends, and several comment on the cute, coordinating yellow sundresses you, Maddy, and Jenna are wearing, purchased the day before.

You’re about to ask the girls to show you to the restrooms when suddenly you and Josh are approached by a large group of what you assume are a couple of families he used to be close to when he still lived in Ohio.

“Well, if it isn’t Joshua William Dun! How’ve you been, young man? I haven’t seen you in forever!” The group migrates over to him and enthusiastically starts shaking his hand and pulling him in for several hugs.

“And who is this pretty thing you have on your arm? Is this your girlfr… Oh my goodness! Josh! You didn’t tell us you were gonna be a daddy! Congratulations, man!”

“Umm, well, actually…” his face is starting to turn pink, but you don’t miss the enormous smile he gets on his face when people start congratulating him as a dad. He’s a bit flustered at the misinformation, but you can tell by his facial expression that he is secretly loving it. His eyes couldn’t lie if they tried.

“Well, I’ll be! Did I hear that correctly?” an older lady and her friend come over to join the conversation. “You hear that Bettie? Our little Josh has a baby on the way.”

The second lady comes up and starts to pat at your belly. “Oh, how wonderful! Congratulations to you both. He’s going to make the best dad.”

You start to chuckle to yourself as this happens to you all the time. It’s easy to assume that an obviously pregnant woman is pregnant with her own child, but you’ve never seen it applied to the non-pregnant half of a couple before, and frankly, it’s hilarious. Josh starts to mutter and stumble over his own words, so you step in, finally coming to his rescue.

“Actually, the baby isn’t Josh’s,” you speak up, looking around at the now shocked and somewhat embarrassed faces of the group. “But don’t worry, the baby isn’t mine either.” You watch as everyone’s faces morph from embarrassed to heavily confused. “I’m actually a surrogate. I’m carrying a baby for another family.”

“Oh my goodness! Oooh, honie that’s so wonderful. How sweet of you. What an angel you are; an actual angel walking among us on earth,” one of the older ladies, Margie, coos.

“Such a miracle you are giving that family. Bless you, honie,” Bettie adds.

“Wow, I’ve never met a surrogate before. That’s actually a really beautiful thing to do.  You’re amazing,” one of the guys from the group praises.

“Thank you, everyone,” you reply shyly and somewhat awkwardly due to all the praise.  “I love doing it. I’m just happy I am able to help.”

“And I’m happy Josh has found himself such a nice girl,” Margie compliments.

“Yes, do take care of our boy,” Bettie adds, coming up to hug you before exiting to mingle with some other people. She pulls Josh in for a hug as well and whispers into his ear, “You better hang on to that one, young man,” she says with mock sternness and a kind smile.

“Don’t worry, I plan to, Mrs. Mullen,” he answers with a wink.

\-----

“Mom? Dad? We’re here,” Josh announces as he opens the door to his childhood home, holding it open for you to step through.

Immediately your senses are delighted as you pick up on the wonderful scents of something delicious baking in the oven.

“Oooh, hi, honie, how are you?” Laura says, coming around the corner, wiping her hands on a dishtowel before pulling Josh into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you. Where’ve you been hiding?”

“Oh, you know, we’ve-”

“Hey! There he is!” his dad interrupts, walking down the stairs towards the entryway. “How’ve you been, son?” He pulls Josh to him, clapping him on the back.

“I’m good. Great, actually. Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Kat,” he says, smiling proudly and placing his hand on your lower back.  

“Hi Kat, nice to meet you,” he says, holding out his hand for you to shake.

“Yes, nice to meet you, darling,” she says warmly, pulling you into a hug as well. “Josh has told us so much about you."

“Oh, has he?” you tease, turning around to grin bashfully at him. He just beams back, tongue poking slightly through his teeth.

“C’mere, son. I’ve got some new gear that I wanna show ya.”

“Is there something I can help you with in the kitchen?”

“Oh, I’m sure we can find something to do,” she says, winking and turning toward the kitchen.

You follow her and sit down on one of the barstools set up at the counter when she offers. She busies herself making two small glasses of milk, setting one in front of you, then grabs a package of Oreos and sets it between the two of you before taking her barstool on the opposite side. She grabs a couple and nods to you as if to say, _‘go on, you too_ ’.

“So, Josh tells me that you are here for a wedding. How did that go?”

“Oh, it was beautiful, Mrs. Dun-”

“Please,” she cuts in, “call me Momma Dun.”

“Oh, um,” you look down, becoming quieter and a bit nervous.  “I don’t know if I could do that since I’m not actually part of the family.”

“How are my girls doing in here?” Josh asks, coming into the kitchen to grab he and his dad some sodas. He walks up behind you, wrapping his arms around you before closing his eyes and kissing your cheek. His hands fall to your belly and he hooks his chin over your shoulder, beaming at his mom.

She fixes her gaze back onto you. “Pfft. Puh-lease. Have you seen the way that boy looks at you? I’ve never seen him so smitten in my entire life.”

She glances back over to him, offering a knowing grin. And although he may be a bit embarrassed to admit such things in front of his mom, he doesn’t deny it one bit, offering her a sheepish smile in return.

“But we’re doing just fine, Joshie. Hey! Hey! Hey!” she scolds, playfully smacking his hand as he reaches forward, snatching a couple of Oreos and exiting with a quick step and a mischievous grin on his face.

“Yep. You should totally just call me Momma Dun,” she finishes with a wink and a smirk. You both laugh, you becoming more comfortable with his mom.

“So, Josh told us that you are a surrogate. How are you feeling? How’s the baby?”

You smile and nod before you answer. “So far so good. I’m about halfway done with the pregnancy at this point. In fact, their big ultrasound is next week.”

“Are the parents going to be there for that?”

“They’d like to be, but they don’t live near me. They actually live in New York City, so they’re saving all their vacation time for when the baby arrives. I don’t blame them either. If I had to choose between an ultrasound and the birth, I’d choose the birth too,” you say giggling. She nods in enthusiastic agreement. “I can just as easily send them pictures and a video file or two of her moving and the heartbeat and stuff.”

“So what happens when you do go into labor? Will the parents already be in town ahead of time or are they planning a scheduled induction? How does all that work?”

“Well, the doctor won’t schedule an induction unless there is a medical need, so no induction is planned. It’ll just be spontaneous labor when it happens. And the parents are discussing it now, but they’re going to try to actually be present for the labor and delivery. They’re planning to fly out about a week before the due date and stay in town until it’s time. But, as you know, babies have a mind of their own and you can safely have the baby anytime after 37 weeks. If I go into labor after that, they won’t stop my labor. I’m due Christmas Eve, but she can arrive anytime after December 3rd. If I happen to go into labor before they get there, they could possibly miss the birth.”

“Oh my goodness. So then if you have the baby and they’re not there, does the baby go to the nursery until they get there, or…”  
  
“No, the baby would stay in the room with me until they arrived. There’s no way I’d let that baby sit alone in the nursery. Plus, they want her to have as much human contact and be snuggled as much as possible after she’s born, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do so.”

“Oh, I couldn’t either. I just love snuggling little babies. They smell so good and they’re so warm and snuggly.” She makes a dreamy face before continuing, “So then if they are there, will they be in the room with you when you deliver?”

“If they make in time and are there for the labor, then I absolutely would invite them to stay in the room for the birth. That’s their baby coming into the world, and I wouldn’t want them to miss it. Of course, if one or both of them are uncomfortable with that, I’m not going to force them to be in there. It’s totally their choice.”

“Have they picked out any names?”

“Actually, yes. They’ve already gotten it down to only two to decide between. They’ve told me what they were, but I forgot. All I can remember is that they’re both very vintage, classic names with the middle name Rose.”

“Well, that’s better than poor Maddy and Will. They’ve gone back and forth between so many names, I just hope they have one picked by the time the baby gets here,” she says playfully, as the oven timer goes off.

“Oop! That’s lunchtime!”

\-----

“Oooh, I can’t believe my baby boy is finally ready to get married,” Laura coos, crossing her bedroom to her vanity. After lunch, she and Josh had snuck upstairs while you and his dad were engaged in a game of backgammon, or acey deucey, as he called it.

“ _Mooom_ , I’m hardly the baby. I’m the oldest, remember?” he says teasing. “And I’ve been ready for a long time, I just hadn’t found the right girl.”

“Well, you kids will always be my babies. Ah, here we are,” she says as she pulls the ring box from her jewelry armoire. She opens it to quickly glance at her original engagement/wedding ring combo before walking over to Josh and gently setting the velvet box in his cupped hands.

He looks over the ring before looking up at his mom, big eyes and a smile full of awe and emotion reminding her of when he was just a child.

“So when are you planning to do it?”

“I’m not sure. She leaves to go back home in a few days, and I have to be out in Cleveland for that awards show soon. I can’t decide if I should ask her before she goes home, or just wait a while. If I’m being honest, I want to ask her, like, _right_ now. I want to rush downstairs, sweep her off her feet in a spinning hug and then get down on my knees and beg her to marry me, but I don’t know if I’m rushing into it too quickly,” he sighs heavily and drops his gaze. “Am I rushing? Do you think this is all too quick, Mom?”

He looks so innocent and worried.

“Honie, when you know, you just know. It’s not a question anyone else can answer, and you feel it, right here,” she reaches up and places her hand on his chest, “in your heart. Do you feel that way about her, Josh?”

“I do. I love her so much and I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on her. My stomach dropped to my feet and I could feel it in my chest and in my soul, Mom. I couldn’t stop talking to her all night, and when it was time for me to leave her alone at her hotel, it was a struggle to get my body to cooperate enough to try and leave. I knew right then that I never wanted to be without her.”

Laura smiles at him lovingly and reaches over, lightly grasping his hand. “That’s exactly how I felt when I met your father.”

He gives her a thankful smile and squeezes her hand, letting go before he continues, “I just fear that everyone will tell me that I’m moving too quickly. That I’m rushing things and that it’s just puppy love, or infatuation or something. But it’s not. I know this is the real thing.”

“Then don’t you worry about what everyone else thinks. In fact, I have friends who met, started dating, and were engaged all within the same month, and married not even a year later. And they’re still married to this day. Going on 30 years now.”

He looks back down, removing the ring from the box to get a closer look, turning it this way and that, admiring it.

“Look at it this way, if she went home today and somehow decided that she didn’t want to be in a relationship with you, or met someone else, would you be able to live with that?”

He gasps, looking panicked and stressed. “No. No way. I would regret it so much.”

“Well then, there’s your answer. You do what feels right to you, son, and don't worry about anyone else’s approval.”

He nods, putting the ring back in its box and standing to stash it in his pocket.

“But the moment you decide to spring the question, I better get a phone call, text, picture, snap, or something, you hear me?” she says sternly, shaking her finger and only somewhat serious.

“I promise, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Darn right.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	7. Chapter 7

“So, do you know how you’re gonna do it yet? Or when?” Tyler asks, turning the ring side to side where it’s pinched between his thumb and first finger.

The boys had gone over to Tyler and Jenna’s house so Josh could practice his drum routine for the AMA’s, while you and the girls went out for lunch and some window shopping. Tyler had a music room at his new house where he kept his piano, keyboard, several ukuleles and bass guitars, and of course, a kit for Josh. Josh had done a couple of run-throughs already, and had just stopped for a water break.

“Well,” he says, wiping the sweat from his forehead and neck with a small black towel, “I wanna ask her tomorrow since she flies home the next day. Today, after this, I need to drop that off,” he says, pointing to the ring, “to be cleaned and polished, but as for how, I think I might have a vague idea of how I wanna do it.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, man. Let’s hear it.”

“I wanna take her out to a nice dinner, but then after, maybe go for a walk down at The Scioto Mile since it’ll be either sunset or just after, and it’ll be lit up all pretty and stuff. The fountains are always really pretty at night.  Maybe just do dinner at Milestone 229?” he questions. “Plus, she said that she wanted to see downtown Columbus. That’s a great spot to be able to see everything.”

“I think that’s a great idea. She’ll love that. You’ll just have to watch for people since you’ll be out in public, and you’ll have to really plan what you wear,” Tyler says, eyeing him from head to toe, taking in his usual outfit. “She’ll notice a big, ring box-shaped lump in your pocket if you wear skinny jeans.”

“Oh my gosh, I didn’t think about that. And it’s too hot to wear a jacket or something. Dang it!” he says, smacking himself on the forehead.

“You could… I mean, you could always ask the jeweler what he suggests when you drop it off to get cleaned. I’m sure he’s heard a lot and has at least some sort of advice,” Tyler says, placing the ring back in the box and handing it back to Josh.

“True. If anything, it’s worth a shot. Alright,” he says, standing to put the box back in his pocket and picking his sticks back up, “one more run through and then we’ll go drop it off?”

_____

By the time you and the girls get back from your shopping, it is getting well into the afternoon. The boys had already made it back from their practice, Tyler and Will in the living room watching some sort of sporting something on ESPN.

“Man, if I keep buying clothes and stuff, I’m gonna have to go out and buy a whole new suitcase just to be able to get it all home,” you say chuckling as you lay your shopping bags out on the table.  

“Speaking of which,” Maddy says, “you’re not allowed to stay gone for too long, you hear?”

“Yeah, you need to come back out and visit as soon as you can,” Jenna adds.

“Well, that’s one great thing about surrogacy. I don’t work while carrying, both so I can rest and be relaxed, but also just in case there are complications or whatever. I can be pregnant anywhere; I don’t have to be at home. As long as I’m there for the doctor appointments and delivery, I can literally travel the whole time if I wanted.”

They both look at each other excitedly as what you said finally sets in.

“Really? Oh my gosh, that is so great!” Jenna says excitedly.

“Yeah! I could even look into renting a place out here-” you start.

“Nonsense! If you’re out here, you can just stay here at my place-” Maddy offers.

“Or mine!” Jenna jumps in. “I’m sure Tyler would love to have his best friend back home again.” She lowers her voice to a whisper, “Between us girls, I think we all know the real reason he moved out to LA. And to be honest, he’s hardly ever there anyway.” Maddy nods in agreement, lips rolled in tight. “He may have moved away, but he’s still here more than he is there,” she finishes quietly.

“Plus, if you’re around more often, I would love to have the extra help with the baby shower and getting the nursery ready. OOH! We could do a joint baby shower/pamper party!”

“What’s a pamper party?” Josh asks, walking into the kitchen, hair still wet from his shower. “Is that like a diaper thing?”

“Nice shirt, _‘Dad’_ ,” Maddy teases.

“What?” he says, grinning. “I love this shirt. It’s comfy,” he says, glancing down and defending his tie-dyed, sleeveless shirt with the word ‘DAD’ written in bold lettering across the front.

“Uh huh. This wouldn’t have anything to do with how much you liked being congratulated as ‘dad’ the other day at church, then?” she continues to tease.

He blushes and casts his gaze down, smirking with a lopsided grin.

“Alright, alright, okay... you got me,” he says, throwing his arms up into the air. “Speaking of which,” he walks over and pulls you into a hug, kissing the top of your head as his hands come to rest on either side of your belly, thumbs rubbing back and forth, “how are my girls doing today? Did you have fun shopping?”

“We did,” you answer as you sit and pull him down to take the seat next to you, “and we were just talking about me coming to spend more time out here.”

“Oh perfect, because I was going to ask if you would like to go have dinner out with me tomorrow night? We could talk about the details and stuff then.”

“Of course, that sounds like a great idea.”

“I have a special place I want to take you. I’ll call and make reservations. You’re gonna love it.”

_____

Incoming from

Tyler Broseph: You got this brother. Text or call if you need us. Good luck!! (but you’re not gonna need it). Now, bring me home a future sister-in-law!

 

Josh quickly tucks his phone away and feels inside his pocket for the ring box for the thousandth time since leaving the house.

Yesterday while at the jewelers, they suggested he use a slim engagement box, which kinda reminded him of a small wallet.  It holds the ring flat, rather than up and down, but when the box is opened, it rotates as it pulls the ring up, which is a neat, added effect. It’s still black and velvet like a regular ring box, but much slimmer, only half an inch thick, and about the length of half a cell phone. Definitely easier to conceal, so Josh immediately took his suggestion.

The restaurant, Milestone 226 is a beautiful, glass-enclosed restaurant that overlooks the gorgeous fountain display and sits alongside the Scioto River. He hoped making the reservations for 7 pm would work in his favor for the sunset. It would provide about an hour for dinner and then would be close to dusk when you finished, and also a bit cooler out for your stroll.

He feels his palms begin to sweat as he approaches the hostess table.

“Hi, reservation for Dun?”

“Of course, right this way.”

She shows you to your table, which sits right against the front windows, giving you an excellent view of the fountains, river, and downtown Columbus.

“Wow, this view is gorgeous! Columbus is so pretty,” you say as you gaze out the window in amazement.

“Yeah, well, I think _you’re_ pretty,” he says, reaching across the table to hold your hand, thumb rubbing across your knuckles.

You grin and blush, but look him in the eye as you say, “Well, you’re pretty handsome yourself.”

His turn to blush.

“So, tell me about yesterday,” he says, trying to get the attention off him, “you girls were talking about you visiting out here some more?”

“Yeah. They mentioned that they wanted me to come visit again soon, and I told them that with being a surrogate, I could be pregnant anywhere and didn’t have to be home all the time since I don’t work while carrying. As long as I go to all my doctor appointments and am home for the delivery, I could travel the whole time if I wanted.”

He nods in agreement, “That’s good to know,” he says with a wink.

“Right, so I told them that I could even look into renting a place out here for a few months, but they insisted that I stay with them while here.”

“Oh, that’s absolutely right; sounds like them. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to talk you into straight up moving out here as well. But yeah, there’s no way they’d let you stay anywhere else if you were here… as you've seen,” he finishes, widening his eyes playfully.

“I don’t know if I could do that to them though. I don’t want to be a burden or cramp them up, you know? Especially with Maddy trying to prepare for a baby. Plus, my doctor appointments are once a month right now, but once I reach 28 weeks, or 7 months along, I have to start going every other week, and then when I get to 36 weeks, which is 9 months along, I go every single week.”

“Wow, that’s a lot,” he says, brow furrowed.

“Yeah, it gets intense toward the end. Maybe we could go out and visit for a week once a month or something? Jenna did mention how much Tyler would like having you back home more often. I don’t think he’s a big fan of you living out in LA.”

When he doesn’t say anything right away, you realize how much you’ve been rambling. “I’m sorry, I’m over here just jabbering on.”

“We?” he asks with an enormous smile on his face, eyebrows raised.  

“What?” you question.

“You said _‘we’_. _‘Maybe we could go visit once a month’_.”

“Well, yeah, of course. I wanna see you as much as possible too, silly,” you say bashfully.

He sticks his hand in his pocket and feels for the ring box again.

Still there.

_____

Josh could not have timed it better if he had tried. By the time you finished dinner, the sun was in the perfect spot in the sky to cast beautiful oranges, pinks, and purples around the clouds. The temperature had dropped and the slight breeze made it very pleasant to be outside. It was just dark enough that the fountain lights and path lights were lit up, making the water of the river look as if it were twinkling.

Perfect.

You stand for a moment and watch the fountain run through its display, casting jumping streams of water in beautiful shades of hot pink, bright blue, purple, and neon green. Towards the end of the display, the jets suddenly shoot water really high in the air, as the circle fountains emit dancing spray from the top. It is absolutely breathtaking, and you can’t help but to pull out your phone and snap a few pictures and take a couple short videos.

Josh watches you as you marvel at the fountain, and can’t wait for the moment to ask you to marry him. He gets a wave of butterflies as he reaches into his pocket once again to feel for the box.

Still there.

You’re still holding your phone up when you feel his arm wrap around you from the side, pulling you in close. You put your phone down and wrap your arm around him as well, turning and raising to your tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek.

“This is beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here, Josh. What a perfect way to spend my last night here.”

“I’m glad you like it. You said you wanted to see downtown at night, and this is the best view there is,” he says, pointing over to all of the buildings that are lit up in pretty oranges and the bridge that is lit up in blue.

You raise your phone to take more pictures as he speaks up again, “You wanna go walk across the bridge? I bet you can get some really good pictures from over there.”

You agree and he takes you by the hand, guiding you toward the bridge.

_‘Oh my god, this is it,’_ he thinks to himself as you step onto the bridge. His hands are starting to get shaky and sweaty, and maybe it wasn’t a good idea to eat before this because his stomach won’t stop flipping and rolling.

He reflexively checks his pocket again for the ring box.

Still there.

_‘Wow,’_ he thinks to himself, _‘did this bridge somehow get longer in the few short seconds I’ve been walking on it?’_ Time has slowed and it seems to be taking forever to get to the center.

When you finally do reach the center of the bridge, his heart is pounding. He can’t hear much besides the _whooshing_ of his own blood pumping in his ears. He quickly looks around, like Tyler told him, but doesn't see anyone close who might approach him.

You already have your phone up, snapping pictures. He steps close, reaching out to cup your face, pulling you to him for a slow, tender kiss. You reach out and pull him closer to you as you feel his hand delicately drop to your belly.

“Kat, I…” his breath is coming out in quick bursts. He puts his hand in his pocket, fingers grasping around the velvet box.

_‘This is it,’_ he thinks to himself as he gets ready to take the ring out and drop to his knee. It’s almost out of his pocket and he’s starting to bend when…

“Excuse me. Mister? Are you Josh Dun?” a small, high voice says next to his waist.

He quickly stuffs the box back into his pocket and turns to the small fan. The little girl standing next to him couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old.

“Hi. Yes, I’m Josh-”

“Jasmin!” someone you assume is her mother comes running over. “I am so sorry. We recognized you a bit earlier, but we told her not to bother you,” she finishes, sternly looking down at her daughter, clearly embarrassed.

“Is this your girlfriend?” Jasmin speaks up again, pointing at you. “She’s very pretty.”

“I agree, she is very pretty.”

You smile and wave at the little girl from behind Josh.

“I’m sorry you guys. You are clearly busy. We’ll leave you two be. Again, I am so, so sorry.” She starts to guide her daughter away when she suddenly breaks free, attaching herself to Josh’s leg.

“Bye, Josh. Glad I got to meet you. Bye Josh’s girlfriend,” she calls as she turns and waves, skipping over to her mom.

You wave back and are suddenly aware of just how many phones are pointed in your direction, and you can’t help but hear the whispers of Josh’s name.

“Umm, maybe we should go. I don’t want you to get swamped or anything. I’m starting to get pretty tired anyway.”

“Y-yeah, that...that’s probably a good idea,” he says, taking your hand, and walking back toward the restaurant, ring heavy in his pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	8. Chapter 8

  _‘Is there a baby pilot on the way? Has Josh been secretly dating? Our sources say it’s likely!’_

_Read on for details below on TMZ.com_

These articles are getting ridiculous. You’d only been home for a couple of days when you noticed an uptick in your tags on social media. People you didn’t know were tagging you in posts and comments, and while the articles themselves weren’t really bad, it was the comments that were crazy.

“It’s definitely weird seeing pictures of yourself, ones that you didn’t post, all over the internet,” you say, adjusting your laptop monitor so you can see them better. You called Maddy and Jenna over skype to discuss it.  Plus, after spending every day together for a week, you really missed seeing your friends.

“Yeah, it can get a bit crazy, that’s for sure,” Maddy says.

“What I would suggest is to go on all your social media sites: twitter, instagram, facebook... whatever, and immediately put them onto private, or at least as private as you can get them. Do that as soon as you possibly can. Then go through and delete anything you wouldn’t want to be leaked all over the internet for people to see. That can be anything from certain information, sad or angry status updates or tweets, bad pictures, pictures of family or extended family you don’t wanna share outside your friend circle… whatever. Because let me tell you, the fans are smart. They’ll find information on you that you didn’t even know was findable,” Jenna informs, and rightly so. She’s experienced it all first hand.  

You nod, taking her advice to heart. “Yeah, I’ve already noticed that,” you say as you minimize their camera to the upper corner of your screen to begin setting all your socials to private. “Some of them already know my name and that I’m a surrogate,” you say, flatly.

“See? They’re quick!” Maddy affirms, eyes wide and nodding her head.

“Some of the comments have been pretty harsh, but others are just hilarious,” you say, reaching over to pet one of your cats, Gatsby, who jumped up and curled against your leg. You’re unsure where the other two are at the moment.

“Yeah, that’s one of the sucky things about it. There’s some really good fans and some that are absolutely hilarious, but then there’s also the really mean and rude ones. You have to do your best to just ignore those and focus on the good ones, unfortunately.” Jenna says.

“Yep! I’ve already seen comments that talk about the typical bashing of how I look and my weight and stuff, and those that compare me to his past relationships, but then I’ve seen some really mean ones that say Josh doesn’t actually like me, that he’s only with me because he knocked me up. As if I secretly got pregnant with his baby to trap him in a relationship or something.”

“Just let it roll off, sweetie. People used to make fun of my weight too, and it can really get to you if you let it. Just try to look past it,” Maddy cautions.  

“I know, I am. Luckily, there are some really funny comments that kinda balance it out. My favorite are the ones that say that yes, I am a surrogate, but that I’m a surrogate for Jenna and Tyler. Or, and this is my favorite, that yes, I am a surrogate, but Jenna and I are just cover-ups for Josh and Tyler’s relationship, and that I’m actually carrying the baby for them. Or another version where Josh and I aren’t even in a relationship at all, and I’m only around because I’m carrying a baby for him and Tyler, and they want me near so they can monitor the pregnancy. I _died_ when I heard that one. Hilarious!”

“Well, Tyler is partly to blame for that one. He brings some of that Joshler stuff on himself,” Jenna says pointedly, but also with a smile.  

Yeah, but they are such great friends, though. And I love that they can be so close and be there for each other, especially when on the road. Honestly, it’s kind of a given that they’d be a packaged deal. Date one get one free, kind of a thing,” you say giggling, Maddy and Jenna joining you and agreeing.

“Exactly! I knew when I married Tyler that I’d, in some ways, be marrying Josh as well.”

“True,” you say, shaking your head.

“So, I know you’ve only been home for just a couple of days, but when are you planning to come back out here?” Maddy asks.

“Not sure. I have some things I need to take care of here, but then I might look into coming back out there. I miss you girls!

The doorbell rings and you click over at the tab with your pizza order, seeing that the status shows as ‘out for delivery’.

“Oop, I better go. Pizza’s here! I’ll talk to you girls later. Miss you!”

“Bye! Miss you!” they say, blowing kisses as you exit the app.

You shut your laptop, tossing it to the middle of your bed before grabbing your cash off your nightstand and heading to the door.

You open the door and immediately hear a strong whimper, glancing up just quick enough to get a glimpse of a yellow streak flying towards you as you’re pulled into a tight hug.

“Oh my god, I missed you so much.”

Josh.

You pull back just enough to glance at his face, a face which has its eyes squeezed shut before you snuggle back in. You squeeze him back tightly and inhale deeply, taking in as much of him as you can. It’s only hitting you now just how much you missed him.

“I missed you, too,” you say, turning to kiss his cheek before stepping back. “And not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? I thought you and Tyler had some recording to do,” you say, propping the door open and stepping aside so that he could come in.

He rolls his suitcase over against the wall, near the door but out of the way before answering, “I decided I don’t like being that far away from you. So, I fixed it. Surprise!” he finishes, holding out his arms sheepishly.

“Hey, I’ll take it,” you say quietly, stepping forward so that he could wrap his arms back around you and kiss you properly. He kisses you slowly, savoring it, as his hands drop to your growing belly.

“And, if it’s okay, I kinda wanted to go to your ultrasound appointment with you,” he murmurs pushing his forehead against yours.

“Well, then you made it just in time; my appointment is tomorrow afternoon. And,” you say as you see a car pull into the driveway, “you're just in time for pizza.”

“This night just keeps getting better!”

\-----

“Dude, I still can’t believe that in the next episode they-” he starts.

“Hey, hey, hey! Spoilers!” you quickly cut in to avoid finding out any plot points too soon

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

You’re both lying on your bed, legs tangled together watching Sex in the City on the tv/xbox combo you had set up in there for lazy netflix binging. He was holding your hand, thumb lazily grazing your knuckles as you four cats piled around him, successfully preventing you from snuggling any closer.  

He looks over at you, contented, goofy grin on his face when something red on your nightstand catches his eye.  
  
“Is that a bluetooth speaker?”

You look over briefly to see it wedged between your table lamp and stacks of notebooks. “Uh, yeah. I got it for christmas a couple of years ago.”

He carefully starts extracting himself from the cat corral they had made around him, digging something out of his pocket as he goes.

“Do you mind if I play something?” he says, holding up his phone.

“No, go ahead,” you say, reaching over to turn it on so he can sync his phone.

A few moments of silence go by as he turns on his bluetooth to sync with the speaker. Suddenly, a female robotic voice cuts through the brief silence, “ _Connected to: Spooky’s iPhone.”_

You don’t say anything, just glance over at him, eyebrows raised as both of you burst out in a fit of giggles.

“What? Don’t judge me!” he says, teasingly, as the familiar song starts playing.

You immediately recognize the song as the one you danced together to at the wedding.

“Josh, you silly boy, what are you trying to do?”

“Dance with me,” he says simply, holding his hand out to pull you up. He pulls you to him and towards the center of the room, just in front of the foot of the bed.

He tugs you closer, belly snug against his waist as he takes one of your hands in his, and places his other hand on the small of your back before starting to sway to the music. He leans his head down to rest his cheek against the side of your head, and you can’t believe it as he starts to actually sing the words to you.

“Forever can never be long enough for me, to feel like I've had long enough with you,” he sings softly.

You’re _dying_. Not only is this just the sweetest thing ever, but Josh is singing. Actually singing. Something he never does… and he’s singing… to _you_. It’s beautiful.

“Forget the world now we won't let them see. But there's one thing left to do.”

How appropriate that that lyric perfectly fits into your conversation you had earlier today.

“Marry me. Today and every day. Marry me. If I ever get the nerve to say ‘Hello’ in this cafe, say you will.”

He turns his head and places a kiss on your cheek. You feel him pull you tighter to him before his hand glides around, resting on the swell of your belly, thumb stroking back and forth as he continues to sway in small circles.

“Together can never be close enough for me to feel like I am close enough to you. You wear white and I'll wear out the words ‘I love you’, and ‘you're beautiful’.”

“I love you, Josh,” you turn to whisper in his ear. You watch as a smile and a blush grow on his face as he continues to sing.

“I promise to sing to you, when all our music dies.”

It’s at this point that he stops swaying. Stops singing. Just pulls back enough to hold you at arm’s length, looking you directly in the eyes.  

“Josh?”

“Kat, like the lyrics said, th-these past few days... I-I couldn’t stand to be away from you. It was actual torture. You were all I could think about, all I could talk about… I couldn’t even concentrate enough to record anything decent at the studio. All I wanted was to be where you were.  And actually, I knew from the moment I first saw you that I’d never want to be away from you, and these past few days only proved it to me that much more.”

His words are so sweet, and you are positively melting at what he’s saying. Your heart rate and breathing start to pick up, and you get a rush of butterflies in your stomach when you see the look of sincerity on his face.

“I know-” his voice cracks and he has to look away for a second, wiping at his eyes where tears have started to spill over. “Sorry,” he whispers before clearing his throat and starting again.

“I know my life will never be complete without you beside me to share it. I know now that I exist in two places... here,” he says, bringing his hand to rest over his heart as another stray tear falls, “and wherever you are,” he finishes, bringing his hand up to cup your face.  

He stops talking to lean in for a short, sweet kiss. When he pulls back, he pauses just long enough to gently rub your belly for a second before pulling something out of his pocket and dropping to his knee.  

He holds out the flat box and slowly opens it, a beautiful diamond ring blooming into view, sparkling in the low light of the room.

Your hands shoot to your mouth as your eyes go wide and you gasp, sucking in a large breath, realizing now what is happening. You immediately start shaking with adrenaline and you can’t tell if it’s the baby or the butterflies that are doing all those flips in your belly.

He looks up to you, big brown eyes full of hope as he holds the ring up to you, tears still slipping down his cheeks.

“Kat, will you marry me?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't recognize it, the song he sings is Marry Me, by Train. And I changed ONE word in the lyrics to that song. Do you know what it was?
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient with me and allowing me an extra day to post. This chapter would have went up yesterday, but I had a headache so bad that it was making my head feel dizzy and swimmy. Not much of anything other than sleeping happened yesterday, so again, thank you for understanding! <3

Josh sits behind you, legs bracketing yours, arms around your waist, and his chin hooked over your shoulder as you hold your computer in your lap, waiting for Maddy and Jenna to answer your skype call.  You quickly texted them to see if they were still at Maddy’s house, and when they confirmed that they were, you instantly told them to get back on skype.

When they finally answer, their faces light up upon seeing Josh sitting there with you.

“Heeyyyy,” they both say in unison, waving at the camera.

“Hey guys,” you say excitedly, “look who I found,” you exclaim, turning to the side to look at Josh. He lifts his hand and waves at them.

“Hi, Maddy. Hi, Jenna,” he says, leaning further into you, squeezing you tighter.

“We didn’t know he was coming down to see you,” Maddy says, smirking at Josh, “Why didn’t you say anything?” she chides.

“Well, I didn’t know either, actually,” you say quickly.

“Yeah, it was a surprise visit,” Josh informs them. “Kind of a ‘spur of the moment’ type of thing.”

“And that’s not all,” you say, smiling widely, and looking into the camera. “Look at this!” You hold up your left hand near your shoulder, ring facing out and proudly on display as you smile even bigger, eyebrows raising and eyes widening excitedly.

“Oh my god!” they both say in unison before it dissolves into just high-pitched squealing and hand flapping.  You and Josh can’t help but giggle at them.

“Tyler! Tyler, get in here, quick!” Jenna shouts somewhere off to her left.

Tyler comes into view, carrying a red bull in one hand, the other running through his tufts of hair. “Alright, alright,” he stops behind Jenna, peeking over her shoulder to look at the screen, “what’s all the screaming about?” he asks. Jenna and Maddy just point to the screen while continuing their overlapping sounds of shock. You wiggle your fingers at the screen.

“Heyyy,” he says, breaking into a grin. “You finally got to do it. My man! Congratulations, brother!” Tyler praises, his grin growing into a proud smile.

“Thanks, Ty,” Josh says bashfully, burying his face in your shoulder.

“Tyler, did you know about this ahead of time?” Jenna questions, turning towards Tyler and raising her eyebrow suspiciously.

“Maaaaybe,” he confirms. She shoots him an irritated look and he quickly tries to defend himself, throwing his palms up while she looks affronted.

“Hey, all I know is that he was so distracted while we were trying to work on the new album that nothing was getting done… so… I fixed it. I sent him away to go see her.”

Jenna continues to look at him with mock irritation.

“But!” he continues, “I didn’t know it was going to be tonight though! I just knew that he had planned to do it soon.”

“Well regardless,” she says, turning back to the camera, “congratulations, you two. This is wonderful news. We’re so happy for you!”

“Yeah. You guys should go out and celebrate,” Maddy suggests.

“Well, I think the celebrating will have to wait; I have my ultrasound appointment tomorrow.”

“Oh, right. Well, then that just means when you come back out here, we’ll have to have a little get together at my place to celebrate,” Maddy says, clapping her hands in excitement.

“That sounds awesome, Maddy. Maybe sooner rather than later, too, cause I don’t think Josh is gonna let me stay here and not come back with him.”

“You got that right!” he says with a wide smile, turning to attack the side of your face with kisses.

“Yeah, I might have a little something to say about that too,” Tyler adds casually. “After all, we’ve got an album to make.”

Jenna glares up at him, smacking him on the arm.

“What? If we’re gonna hit our album release date for this spring, I need my man to have his head in the game. And he clearly can’t do that without her here. ...No offense Josh.”

Josh just dismisses it with a wave of his hand. “No, he’s right. None taken.”

“Well, in that case, we’ll see you in a couple days,” Maddy says, excitedly.

“Yes,” Jenna agrees. “Congratulations again, guys. And welcome to the family!” she says as they all wave at the camera.

“Thanks,” you say, as you and Josh wave back at the camera. “Bye guys.”

You close your laptop and push it to the side of the bed as Josh tightens his grip, pulling you tighter against his chest. He places a small kiss on the curve of your neck and shoulder as he starts to slightly rock you both from side to side.

“I still can’t believe this is actually happening. You said ‘yes’. I’m so happy,” he admits, squeezing you in a small hug.

You lean forward, pulling away from his hold just long enough so you can turn around and face him. He watches you as you turn, his face one of ease, smiling lazily, and eyes blinking slowly back at you. You scoot close and slip your arms under his, wrapping them back around him to pull him closer to you once more.

He’s so warm and inviting, and you want to stay there in his arms forever. Your heart swells and you get a rush of butterflies as you realize that you can. You can stay there forever. He is your forever now.

He hums happily as he buries his face into the curve of your neck, sighing with pure contentment. You turn and place a small kiss along his stubbly jaw, leaning slightly more forward to whisper in his ear.

“You’re gonna be my husband,” you mutter quietly to him.

You hear him whimper as he sits up, placing his forehead against yours and brushing the backs of his fingers down your cheek.

“And you’re gonna be my wife,” he whispers back, closing the gap between you, pressing his lips against yours.

You spend the next few minutes there, holding each other close and blissfully exchanging pecks to each other’s cheeks, foreheads, and jaws, along with slow, languid kisses. But soon, blissful, contented sighs start to turn into moans and gasps as breathing gets heavier and the kisses get needier.

“Josh,” you breathe, eyes rolling as he kisses a line down the column of your neck.

“Mmm?” he half answers, half moans back as his hands start to roam under your shirt and across your belly. You let out a soft sigh, and he starts to push forward into you, shifting you onto your back.

“Josh,” you whisper again once he’s hovering over you, catching his eyes this time. He looks down at you, his eyes full of love, adoration, and passion.

You reach your left hand up, cupping his cheek with your palm. He closes his eyes and he leans into your touch, placing his hand over-top yours. You wait until he opens his eyes back up before speaking.

“Yours.”

He whimpers, taking your hand and bringing it around, placing a kiss on top of your engagement ring.

“Mine.”

\-----

Josh wakes up and glances over at you, your face still serene with sleep. He catches sight of the ring on your left hand as it gently rests beside your face, and he can’t stop his grin as he is filled with a rush of happiness and warmth. He raises his hand, caressing your cheek with the back of his knuckles.

“My wife,” he whispers to himself, his eyes roaming your face lovingly.

You start to stir and he quickly pulls his hand away, not wanting to wake you just yet. Instead, he moves his right hand down to your belly and places his palm near your belly button, fingers lightly brushing back and forth.

As he lets his mind wander, three of his fingers soon start to tap familiar rhythms absent-mindedly onto your belly as he thinks. He thinks about you, the kind of wedding you two are going to plan, possibly moving back home to Ohio… maybe cutting his hair.

His fingers still again as he mulls over if he really wants to cut his hair or not, and if so, how short; after all, it’s been long and colorful for so long. But then again, he thinks, how freeing would it be to not have to touch up color and redo his roots every few weeks? Not to mention how much stronger and healthier it’ll be when it grows back in. His hair has always grown so fast. He thinks of how odd it’ll be for him to have his natural, curly brown back when he suddenly feels two quick taps, just underneath his fingertips.

At first, he doesn’t quite connect what is going on, furrowing his brow, and glancing down in confusion.

‘ _That was odd_ ,’ he thinks to himself, thinking that maybe your muscles are just twitching in your sleep.

When it happens again, but stronger this time, his sleepy brain finally connects what is actually going on, and he looks down at your belly, eyes wide, grinning like a fool, and completely captivated.

He starts to tap another short rhythm, testing out his theory that maybe if he taps out a beat, the baby will kick back. He stops after just a few seconds, placing his palm flat. Sure enough, a few moments later he is met with a few quick taps and a nudge.  

The smile that breaks out onto his face should be illegal. He lifts his eyebrows, eyes crinkling at the corners and tongue slightly poking out as he smiles so wide and so bright, completely lost now in playing with the baby.

He quickly glances back up to make sure you’re still asleep and then tries to slowly scoot down, not wanting to wake you, but still too excited with this new development to go too slowly. He places his cheek on your belly, hand a few inches away as he begins to talk to the baby.

“Well hello there, baby girl,” he says quietly against your belly. “I’m Josh.”

She rewards him with a strong push, just under his palm. He sucks in a quick gasp of air.

“Oh my gosh,” he whispers to himself before he continues.

“Do you like those drum beats?”

She kicks again and pushes outward slowly, closer to the sound of his voice this time.

He quietly chuckles, “Well then, I’ll have to be sure and tell Tyler. He’ll be happy to know our new stuff already has a fan.”

“Wanna hear another one?” he pauses, not having to wait very long to get confirmation in the form of three taps in quick succession.

He taps out a quick snippet of one of his drum solos then stops, placing his palm flat against your belly and waits. This time he is really rewarded with movement as she not only kicks, but rolls right under his hand. It feels so strange but so astonishing to him.

“Whoa,” he whispers, amazed.

“Whatcha doin’, Josh?” you ask quietly from above him. He startles slightly, quickly looking up at you before glancing back down.

“She’s talking to me,” he says, pointing at your belly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, I mean kinda. If I tap out a beat, she’ll kick back. Watch this.”  He taps out a quick rhythm, and sure enough, she kicks hard enough for it to be seen through your shirt.

“Wow, that’s so awesome! I think she likes you,” you say, grinning down at him.

He grins back, slightly blushing as he sits back up. You think it’s the cutest freaking thing you’ve ever seen.  

“You really think so?” he asks.

“Yeah, of course! And it wouldn’t surprise me at all that she’s actually listening and responding to you. Babies can start to hear things from inside the womb around week 18. And their hearing becomes even better, even able to differentiate certain people’s voices around week twenty-four. In her case, I think she may be just ahead of the developmental curve there.”

“How far along are you, again?”

“Twenty-three weeks now. Just one week shy of being six months along.”

“Wow, this is so amazing. I can’t wait to see her at the ultrasound today,” he admits.

“I know, I’m super excited too,” you admit. “I mean it’s one thing to feel her wiggling and moving, but to actually see it on screen and be able to see her face is on a level all its own. Now, what do you say we get this little girl some breakfast before we have to head out?”

“Sounds like a great idea,” he agrees, scooting down to place his mouth near your belly again.

Cupping his hand near his lips, he whispers to the baby, “I’ll get you anything you want,” he promises as he leans the rest of the down and places a quick kiss to your belly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	10. Chapter 10

“Are you nervous?” you ask, glancing down at his incessantly bouncing knee before reaching over and placing your hand gingerly on top.

You’re currently in the waiting room at the OB’s office. There are a couple of other, heavily pregnant women waiting for their prenatal appointments as well, and one who looks to be there for her 6-week postpartum checkup since she is holding a teeny tiny baby, feeding him lovingly from a small bottle.

Josh keeps glancing over at them, watching with a soft expression as she feeds and coos at the tiny infant.

He takes your hand in his, running his thumb over your new ring, smiling up at you, and shaking his head. “No, n-not nervous, excited. I’ve never seen one of these before.”

“Well, I’m excited for you ‘cause they’re pretty neat. You’ll finally get to see just how much she really wiggles in there.”

“I can’t wait. This is all so, just, exciting,” he repeats, unable to come up with a better word. The woman with the baby glances over and smiles fondly at his eagerness.

You both look up as the office door opens, revealing a short, blond woman in lavender scrubs. She lifts her clipboard and calls out your name.

“Kat?”

“That’s me,” you say, both of you standing to follow her back to her exam room. You reach back and grasp Josh’s hand, gently squeezing it reassuringly as you walk down the hall, fingers intertwined.  

The hallways are decorated with large, poster-sized pictures of newborn babies, each in a cute pose with soft blankets, flowers, crowns, hair bows, or other adorable things.

She stops at one of the last rooms the right, holding the door open for you and Josh to step through. You enter the larger exam room, setting your things down on the small loveseat that’s been placed against the left wall for larger groups or families.

She turns to you after closing the door and says, “Go ahead and climb up on the table when you’re ready. And dad,” she says, turning to Josh, who not only answered to the name, but also can’t stifle the grin creeping onto his face, “you can have a seat on the rolly chair, and scooch next to mom,” she says, pointing to the rolly stool. Neither of you correct her mistake.

You climb up on the smaller exam table and lay back, paper crinkling beneath you. It’s more of like a dentist’s chair since it’s lower to the ground and doesn’t have all the storage underneath, but it is still wide at the top like an exam table and has a pull-out platform for your legs once you’re settled back.

Once you get into position, she has you lift up your shirt to your ribs, and pull your waistband down low to your pelvic bone. She then tucks a small towel up under your waistband, draping it over your pants to keep them from getting the ultrasonic gel on your clothes.  

You place your right arm behind your head to help prop your head up, your left hand reaching out for Josh’s. He takes it eagerly, bringing it up to his lips for a quick kiss.

The technician sits on your other side, fiddling with a few buttons and controls on the ultrasound machine to get things ready.

“Okay, I think we’re ready to get started. Let me just get the lights,” she says as she rolls her stool over to the wall, dimming the lights down low.

“So, with the ultrasound today, we’ll be doing an anatomy scan which will check the placenta and cord placement, the baby’s spine, organs, heart and chambers, the brain, brainstem, amniotic fluid levels, and then we’ll also check baby’s approximate weight and length. You’ll be able to take home some photos of the baby, but we also provide a video CD with audio of the heartbeat for you as well. Any questions before we get started?” she asks, looking to both you and Josh.

You shake your head no, so she continues. “It seems like a lot, I know, but it’ll go by super fast, I promise.” She reaches over and squirts a big dollop of clear, light blue ultrasonic gel onto your belly.

“Ooh, it’s actually warm,” you muse to her. You look over to see Josh watching intently.

“Yeah, isn’t that nice? Unlike a lot of places, this office actually heats the gel so that it’s not so shockingly cold when we apply it.”

You nod in agreement.

“Okay, one last thing before we get started. Do you want to know the baby’s sex?”

“Well,” you start, “we’re already pretty sure it’s a girl. They did some blood testing around week 10, the one that checks for genetic defects like Downs and other chromosomal defects. When the results came back, they said the test most likely confirmed it’s a girl.”

“Very good. We’ll still double check for you, and see if we can get some good pictures as well. Alright, you ready?”

You nod and turn to Josh, giving his hand a squeeze for good measure as she places the hand-held wand on top of your belly and begins to smear the gel around. Blurry black and white images begin to show up on the screen of the large, wall-mounted tv that sits directly across from the exam table. You both turn your attention to the screen, just in time to see a side profile of her face come into view. You can clearly see her forehead, button nose, and pouty lips, which are opening and closing as you watch.

Josh gasps, eyes wide and mouth slightly open as the examiner begins to talk.

“And there she is,” the examiner says in a sing-song voice. You both watch, Josh in complete wonderment as you see her lift her chin, hands moving in front of her face before moving back out of view.

“Right now, it looks like we’re lying transverse, which means side to side. She has her head on one side of your belly and feet stretched across to the other side. And that’s perfectly okay, the doctors don’t expect them to move into the head down position until around week 30-34, so she’s just fine.”

You see her move her legs and arch her back before she gives a good hard kick to the ultrasound wand, strong enough that you could see the wand bounce up from the top of your belly.

You and the examiner giggle; Josh still looks stunned.  “Well, I guess we know how she feels about us peeking in on her today,” she says as she continues to move the wand around. “Does she move a lot?”

“Yes!” you enthuse. “All the time! I don’t think she ever stops moving, really. At least, that’s how it feels sometimes.”

“Well, I think I might have an idea of why you feel that way,” she says as she moves the wand some more, down closer to your pelvic bone. “You see this white mass right here?” she asks, moving the pointer on the screen to show where she’s indicating. “That is your placenta.” She clicks a few more buttons and suddenly there are a lot of moving red and blue colored areas on the screen on top of the placenta.

“All that color there shows blood flow in and out, all of which looks really good. Excellent blood flow.” She pauses the video on screen to type a few things out and save the image for the doctor.

“But based on the placement,” she continues, “your placenta is low and toward the back, which means that you will feel almost all of her movements since the placenta isn’t there to act as a cushion in the front.”

“Is-is that a bad thing?” Josh asks, tentatively, eyes never leaving the screen, still staring in wonder.

“Oh no, not bad at all. In fact, as she grows bigger and stronger, and starts stretching out more, you might be able to make out handprints and individual fingers or toes as they make their way across mom’s belly,” she informs him with a polite smile.

“Whoa,” you hear him whisper under his breath. It takes all you’ve got to stifle your giggle, lips turning up at the sides.

She moves the wand around a little more, turning it this way and that before she pauses the screen at what looks like a skull with a bunch of white dots behind it. She quickly saves a screenshot before she starts explaining some more.  

“You see this little thing here that looks like a string of pearls?” she asks, moving her pointer on the screen to show you where to look, moving it along the dots. “That’s the baby’s spine. Each one of those dots is an individual vertebra.” She unpauses the screen and the baby immediately starts to move again, arching its back and moving its head, which is all very pronounced as you watch her spine move on the screen.

“Okay, now, let’s go up here and check the heart,” she says, moving the wand up. Once she gets it in place, you can already see on the screen the movement and fluttering of the heart. She reaches over and taps a button, and suddenly the room is filled with the sound of what sounds like whooshing hoofbeats. On screen, you can see a soundwave being made and suddenly you hear Josh gasp beside you as he realizes what he’s hearing.

“Oh my gosh, is that her heartbeat?” he asks, voice quiet and high as he tries to hold in his emotions. He quickly glances over at you, eyes wide with awe as he squeezes your hand tighter. “Wow,” he says simply.

“Yep, that’s the heartbeat. Good, strong heartbeat too. Sounds like it’s going right at about...”

“145 beats per minute,” Josh cuts in.

The examiner’s eyes widen as she gawks at him for a quick moment. “That’s exactly right! Wow, good guess. You must be a drummer.”

He just nods, trying to hide the fact that he’s wiping stray tears from his eyes.

“Hey, it’s alright to be a bit emotional,” she comforts. “Lots of people get emotional during their ultrasound. You’re not the first, and you certainly won’t be the last dad to tear up when he hears his baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Don’t even worry about it,” she says, offering him a box of tissues and a reassuring smile. Again, neither of you correct her mistake.

“Alright, now, let’s get a closer look, here,” she says, zooming in closer to the heart. “Although the fetal organs are still immature at this point in development, they are all fully formed, including all the inflow and outflow tracts of the heart like the vena cava, here,” she says, using her on-screen pointer again to show you, “aorta, here. And pulmonary arteries, here. Everything looks perfect."

“Good,” you nod as you glance over at Josh, who is still dabbing at his eyes.

“Alright, let’s move down now and check the belly and kidneys.” She moves the wand around and you can no longer tell what you’re looking at on the screen. It just looks like a bunch of circles and oblong oval shapes. She keeps pausing the picture here and there to take measurements of different things before saving them for the doctor.

You turn your head back over to Josh and he smiles brightly at you, pulling your hand to his lips, kissing your intertwined fingers before mouthing ‘I love you’ to you. You mouth ‘love YOU’ back to him as the technician begins to speak again.

“Okay, let’s check and see if we really are a baby girl.” she moves the wand down and to the side, trying to get a good shot. “Come on, little one. Let us just take a quick peek here… OOP!” she says and she quickly pauses the screen. “There we go! Perfect. You see those three little lines there in between the legs?” She uses her pointer to show you and you nod, seeing what she’s describing. “Those are her girly parts, her labia. Definitely a girl”

You watch on screen as she types out ‘IT’S A GIRL’ before sending the image to the printer.

“Alright, just a couple more things to check and we’ll be all done here.” She moves back over to the face and takes a few measurements from the profile view. She explains how she’s checking the space between the brain and back of the skull, and how all looks well for the baby’s brain development. She starts to move to get a face front shot, when the baby suddenly moves its hands up, putting her thumb in her mouth.  
  
“Oh my gosh, is she… is she sucking her thumb?” Josh asks, in complete surprise.

“That she is,” the sonographer confirms.

“That’s amazing! I had no idea they could even do that,” he says, completely bewildered.

“Oh yes, they practice all kinds of things in there, sleeping, swallowing, the movement of breathing, crying, thumb sucking, grimacing… all kinds of stuff. They can even get the hiccups.” She takes a few pictures of her sucking her thumb, sending them to the printer for you.

When she moves to get a head-on view, she starts explaining some more. “This is the baby’s face as if you were looking at her directly. Her face will look a little spooky, kinda like a skull mask from certain angles.”

“Kinda like you, Josh,” you tease, turning to smirk at him. He just smiles, lifting his chin, and looking proud.

“What’s that?” the sonographer asks.

“Oh, I’m just giving him a hard time. He wears a skull mask sometimes during his acts. Not to mention his nickname is Spooky.”

“Oh, how funny. Like father, like daughter, huh? Okay,” she quickly moves on to her task, not giving you time to correct her, “it looks like we are measuring about 16 oz., or 1 whole pound, and approximately 12 inches long. One foot and one pound,” she says with a giggle. “Perfect, round measurements.”

She pulls the wand away, placing it back on the machine and flips up the towel, starting to wipe off your belly. “Alright guys, everything looks great. I’ll forward all of these to the doctor so he can look them over.”

She takes away the messy towel and hands you another clean one. “You got it?” she asks as you take over wiping the gel off of your belly. She turns and begins gathering all the photos she printed and the cd from the drive.

“Here are all your memories from today’s ultrasound,” she says, handing the bundle to Josh. “You can go ahead and get dressed,” she says, turning to you, “and once you’re situated, the doctor will be ready to see you in room 2, just up the hall one more door.”

You nod and sit up, ready to resituate your clothes.

“Congratulations, guys,” she says, turning to walk out the door. Josh thanks her as you stand to toss the towel into the provided hamper, pulling the panel of your shorts back over your belly and smoothing your shirt back down.

You move to collect your purse off the loveseat, but Josh stops you, holding you by your shoulders. He leans down, placing his forehead against yours.  
  
Closing his eyes, he says, “Thank you for bringing me today. This was absolutely amazing,” he murmurs, moving his hands down to rest on your belly.

“You’re welcome, Josh. I’m glad you got to come. It’s truly is a neat experience, isn’t it?”

“It is, but... but I gotta be honest with you,” he says quietly, stepping back, and dropping his gaze to the floor, almost embarrassed. “This whole thing, all of this just,” he says, gesturing around to indicate the doctor’s office and your belly, “it just makes me want one so, so bad.”

He glances up quickly but immediately drops his gaze back down, too ashamed and worried about your reaction to hold your gaze for too long. “All this excitement, and I’m trying so hard not to get attached, but it… but it’s hard, you know?”

He finally looks up and finds your face full of worry and concern, and it frightens him. He’s scared that he’s offended you somehow and he quickly tries to backpedal his words, hoping he hasn’t hurt your feelings too much.

“Not… not that I don’t want to be here or that I don’t want to go through this with you, ‘cause I do. I soo do. Oh god, I’m totally screwing this up, I’m so sorry,” he says as he starts to panic, taking another step back and pulling off his hat to run his fingers nervously through his hair.

“Josh,” you say calmly, stepping forward to pull him into a hug, “Josh, it’s okay. Really. I get it,” you soothe as you start to run your hands up and down his back. “You were kind of thrust into the situation since I was already pregnant when you met me. You didn’t have time to mentally prepare like I did.”

“I know, but it’s not as if I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I was fully aware that you were a surrogate. I choose it. I choose you,” he says, pulling you a bit tighter to him.

“I know. I know. And I’m so grateful that you did, because I love you soo, so much, Joshua.” You pull back and reach up and place your palm on his cheek, holding eye contact for a second before standing on your tiptoes to place a kiss on his forehead.

“But that doesn’t make this any less hard. It’s _normal_ to want to bond with an unborn baby. It’s instinctual. Especially when you’re in a relationship with the woman who is pregnant with the baby. You’re not doing anything nature hasn’t ingrained in you to want to do.” You pull back, bracing him by his shoulders, squeezing lightly.

“And I promise you, that after this baby is born, and after the wedding, if you’re willing to wait even _that_ long, we can talk about when we want to start working on a baby of our own, because trust me, I can’t wait to give you that, Josh.” He looks up and grins sheepishly. “I can’t wait to see you as a dad. You’re going to make a wonderful daddy someday.” His grin turns into a full smile now, beaming at your compliment.

“And there’s a reason that being around me, and Maddy and all this baby stuff makes you crave having one of your own. It’s called Baby Fever, silly,” you say, playfully poking him on his ribs, “and it’s a real thing. Proven by science and everything.”

You move again to pick up your purse, heading toward the door.  

“Well, whatever it is, I’ve got more than just a fever. I’ve got, like, baby flu, or baby pneumonia or something.”

“Baby pneumonia?” You can’t stop the giggle that erupts at his choice of words.

“Josh, you’re too cute for your own good."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *smut warning for the end of the chapter*

“Heyyy, you guys are finally here!” Tyler shouts over the music that’s playing loudly inside the house.

Maddy, with Jenna’s help, had planned for there to be an ‘engagement celebration get-together’ at her house as soon as you guys landed back in Ohio. Guests weren’t due to start arriving yet, but by the looks of it, the house was nearly in full-on party mode already. Food and drinks were out, music was on, champagne was on ice, as well as sparkling grape juice for you and Maddy.

“Good to see you, buddy. And congratulations, man,” Tyler says, pulling Josh thru the doorway and into a bear hug. “I’m proud of you, man. My bro is finally getting married,” he adds, playfully punching Josh in the shoulder.

“And come ‘mere, you,” he says, his tone softer with you. He pulls you into as much of a tight hug as he can. “We finally get to officially add you to the family.”

“Looks that way. Thanks, Ty,” you say, squeezing him back. When he pulls away, you stand on your tiptoes to kiss Josh on the cheek, “I’m gonna go say hi to the girls,” you tell him, your hand finding his and interlacing for just a second, squeezing before you walk further into the house.

“So, give me the deets. How was it done?”

Josh raises his hand, taking a deep breath to start to say something, but is quickly cut off by loud, high-pitched squealing coming from the living room. Both men look over and grin, knowing full well what’s going on in the other room as you stand there with your new ring on display.

“That, my friend, is probably a story best saved for later.”

_____

An hour later and the house is hopping. The Josephs are all there, the Duns are all there, and laughter can be heard all around. It’s a full house if you’ve ever seen one, and you cannot wait to become part of this extended family.

You look around at your soon-to-be family, a peaceful feeling settling in your stomach as your eyes come to rest on Josh. He looks so happy, cheerful smile on his face that reaches up to his eyes, causing them to nearly disappear. He has one hand on his brother’s shoulder and his other hand resting on his stomach as he throws his head back in laughter, his tongue just barely poking through his teeth. You can’t believe just how lucky you are. How did you, of all people, become lucky enough to be the one that Josh fell in love with?

“Okay, okay everyone,” Maddy says, pointing a tiny remote at the stereo to turn the music down a bit. Will and Tyler are bringing in two wooden, white chairs that they set in the middle of the room, one for you, one for Josh, “Let’s have the newly engaged couple come have a seat here in the middle...” she trails off, smiling brightly and waving her hand at you to come over.  Everyone else has taken their chairs and made sort of a semi-circle around your chairs.

Once you’re seated, Jenna passes her a simple, white box with a purple, silk bow wrapped around it, which she passes to you.

“Now, before you open that,” she says, pointing to the box, “I think we all would like to know just exactly how it happened. Tell us the engagement story.”

“Oh yes, please! You know I’m a sucker for a good engagement story,” Laura adds.

You recount what happened, how he asked, and how it was a surprise that he was even at your house that night in the first place. Josh stops you to fill in little tidbits every now and then about how nervous he was, how he couldn’t stop talking about you to the poor person sitting next to him on the plane, even pulling the ring out to show it to them, and then how he almost dropped the ring trying to pull it out of his pocket before he dropped to his knee… none of which you noticed at the time. He blushes red a few times, especially when you tell them that he sang to you. Many ‘ _oh how sweet_ ’ and ‘ _awe_ ’s can be heard around the semicircle.

“And it was all spur of the moment, I swear. Funny story,” he says, turning to you, “I had actually planned to ask you on the bridge that night we went out to Scioto Mile before you flew back home. Had the ring in my pocket, ready to drop to my knee and everything.”

“Oh my gosh!” Jenna shouts suddenly, turning to Tyler. “Is that how come you knew about all of this before we did?” she finishes, gesturing between her and Maddy. Tyler just grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.  “Tyler Robert Joseph!” she exclaims playfully. “You and I are gonna have to have a talk later.”

“Yes, dear,” he says, pretending to be defeated. He catches Josh’s eye and winks.

“Okay,” Maddy says, clapping her hands together once, “so as an early ‘welcome to the family’ gift, we’d like you to have this,” she says, pointing once again to the box. “Go ahead and open it.”

You pull one of the bow tails, then pull apart the knot, removing the pretty bow from the package. Josh, being silly, takes the ribbon from your lap and wraps it around his neck like a scarf. He just turns to you and smiles cheesily as you continue to open the gift. It makes your stomach flutter.

When you lift off the white lid, you see a large, solid rectangle wrapped in lavender and white tissue paper. You pull the gift out of the box, noticing how heavy it seems to be, and carefully remove the paper from around it.

When you finally have it all unwrapped, you run your fingers over the top of it, smiling affectionately before turning it around to show everyone. Several more ‘awe’s can be heard throughout the group once again.

It is a large, incredibly thick, spiral planner. The cover is a thick, pink and white striped, glossy cardboard, and written across the front in gold glitter lettering, it reads ‘Miss to Mrs.’. Along the very bottom of the cover, it’s been personalized, debossed in dark gray to read, ‘The Future Mrs. Dun’.

“It’s sort of a tradition with us girls,” Maddy informs, cutting into your thoughts.

“Yeah, I gave one to Maddy when she was getting married...” Jenna adds, “And now I’m giving one to you,” Maddy finishes.

“Oh my gosh, you guys, I don’t even…” you trail off mid-sentence and stand, walking over to Maddy to give her a hug, or rather, what you can of a hug. Both of your growing bellies are preventing you from getting too close to each other, having to settle for smooshed bellies and shoulder pats, as that’s simply all you could reach with your bellies in the way.

“Thank you, guys,” you say, leaning over to hug Jenna as well. “I don’t even know what to say. Just, thank you.”  
  
“Don’t mention it. We’re thrilled to have you,” Jenna replies.

Maddy nods in agreement. “Welcome to the family.”

\-----

“Man, this thing has everything,” you say, sitting in your pajamas, cross legged on the bed, and flipping through your new wedding planner. “Even some stuff I never even thought of.”  

“Well, don’t worry. With those two at your side, they won’t let a single detail go unplanned, I promise,” he says, walking up to his side of the bed, tossing away his shirt, and toeing off his shoes.

You flip back to the beginning of the book, glancing over the first page. “At least they start you off with easy ones to fill in, like ‘Wedding Date’.” You hum in thought. “What do you think, Josh? When do you want to have the wedding?”

He climbs on the bed, bouncing on his knees over to you before kneeling next to you, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his chin on your shoulder.

“Hmm,” he hums, leaning in to kiss your cheek, “tomorrow.”

“Jooosh,” you whine, giggling and shying away from his kisses, but still trapped within the confines of his strong arms. “I’m serious.”

“Me too,” he says, letting you go to instead sit next to you, kicking his feet out in front of him, and pulling the planner so that you each have one half on your laps. “But seriously, whatever day makes you my wife, I am fine with. As long as I end up married to you by the end of the day, I won’t mind.” He turns to you and smiles genuinely.

God, you are so in love with this man. You find yourself, for the second time that night, asking how in the world you happened to get so lucky. Unfortunately, that train of thought gives birth to doubt.

“You sure you wanna marry me, Josh?” you ask timidly, looking down at the thick book in your laps. “I mean, I already have a bunch of stretch marks, and I’m only gonna get bigger,” you admit, bringing your hand up to absentmindedly rub your belly. “Soon I’ll be feeling like Violet from Willy Wonka, especially by the time we get to the end of this thing. I already feel like an upside-down turtle when I try to sit up from laying down, or even going from sitting to standing.”

He pulls the book toward him until it’s completely in his lap before shutting it and setting it off to the side. He then turns to face you so that you are both sitting cross legged, facing each other.   

“And even after I have her, my belly is gonna be all saggy and gross after,” you say, making a disgusted face. Josh starts to say something, but you quickly continue, not allowing him to speak.

“And if you think dealing with a period for a week is bad, try six weeks of bleeding. After I have her I’ll be bleeding for up to six weeks, my hormones will be all over the place, I’ll be all hot-flashy and I’ll sweat like a pig when I sleep cause I won’t be able to regulate my body temperature due to the hormones being all out of whack.” You take a deep breath and sigh heavily, feeling defeated.

“And I’ll be there to take care of you,” Josh says softly, reaching across to take your hands in his. “I’ll be with you every at every step to help you through it. I want to. I actually can’t wait for when I get to do that... take care of you,” he mutters, reassuringly.

“But it doesn’t stop there, Josh. It gets worse.” You look up at him with a pitiful look of defeat, eyebrows knitted together in concern and eyes full of anguish.

“My boobs are going to be all leaky all the time, then once I’m done pumping breast milk, they’ll probably be all saggy for a while. Definitely not the Hollywood perky you could have with anyone else. I’m gonna look like a lumpy, deflated balloon, and look at you,” you wave your hand up and down, gesturing to his body, “you’re so attractive and tight and fit. You could have anyone, Josh, any actress or model with a rocking body if you were to only spare a grin in their general direction.”

You take another deep, shaky breath, eyes starting to sting with unwanted emotion, and drop your gaze back down to your lap, head hung in shame.

“I don’t want you to be stuck with my soggy, saggy, post-baby body. And I know I can work out and get back into shape once my body heals, but in the meantime,” you stop, motioning down to your own, very pregnant body, “this is only gonna get worse before it gets better.”

He pulls one hand away to place on your jaw, forcing you to look up at his face before speaking very softly and carefully to you.

“You are literally gifting someone with life ... a _life_ , Kat. I think it’s easy for you to forget how extraordinary that truly is. You are bringing a brand-new soul, a new human into this world, and not even for yourself. You are creating a child, a family, completely for someone else’s benefit. The amount of selflessness…” he cuts off, huffing out a breath before continuing.

“As beautiful as you are to me now, you will always be even that much more beautiful for that, regardless of what it does to your body.” He drops his hand, but you keep your head up, gaze on him. “I mean, I’m gonna be old and saggy and wrinkly, and, let’s be honest here, probably bald one day,” he says, grinning, and running his fingers through his bright yellow hair. You chuckle softly as he continues, “Are you going to love me any less for any of those things? Or be any less attracted to me because of it?”

“No. No, of course not.”

“See?”

“I just… I don't wanna hold you back somehow, Josh. I don’t want you to be stuck with a “normie” like me. There are so many other, better…”

“Stop talking,” he says forcefully. “You stop talking like that RIGHT now,” he bites, a sharp, angry edge to his voice. You recoil a bit, just due to the sheer emotion in his words. You’ve not seen him get upset before, but one thing’s for sure, you don’t like it.

“I chose you. I chose you because I love you. _YOU_ , Kat. I love _you_. I love your laugh. I love your eyes and how they light up when you see me. I love your personality, and how selfless you are. I love how kind, and giving, and generous you are.”

He drops his voice, low and soft, taking your hands back in his and leaning forward a bit. “I love the way you look at me like I’m your favorite person in the whole wide world. I love how when you kiss me, you have to stand up on your toes to reach me. I love how your hands feel in mine,” he says, giving them a slight squeeze.

He drops his voice even lower before continuing.  “I love doing things that make you smile that beautiful smile that I can’t seem to get enough of, and would do anything to see,” he says, tracing his thumb across your bottom lip.

He moves to sit behind you, encasing his legs on either side of yours and wrapping his arms around your middle, sighing before he continues. “I love your warmth.” He squeezes your middle in a tight hug, hooking his chin over your shoulder before he continues. “I love feeling you against me at night when we sleep. I love your voice. I love hearing you say that you love me.”

Arms still locked around your waist, he turns his head and kisses you just behind your ear, causing your skin to erupt in goosebumps. You shiver, tilting your head slightly as he trails a few more kisses down your neck to your shoulder.

“I love hearing you whimper.” He’s whispering now, his hot breath across your skin causing you to tremble. “I love hearing your gasps and sighs when you let me explore your body.”  

He releases his hold on your waist, moving his hands up to cup your breasts, thumbs grazing back and forth over your nipples. You gasp, throwing your head back onto his shoulder as your breathing starts to pick up.

“That’s it, baby girl. Let me take care of you,” he sighs. You groan, arching your back and pushing your chest out as he pinches your nipples slightly before continuing. “Let me show you how beautiful you are to me.”

He turns his head and continues to kiss up and down your neck, his hands still massaging your breasts all the while. His breath starts to come out in huffs, and his kisses start to get sloppier and more wet as he begins to nibble every so often as well.

Dropping his hands to the hem of your shirt, he begins to work it up, higher and higher until you raise your arms, allowing him to pull it off you. He hums as he reaches back around, his bare chest now pressed against your bare back, hands finding their way back to your breasts.

“I love how you react when I touch you here,” he says, running his fingers over your nipples and causing them to fully harden. You moan, feeling the electric shocks it’s giving your run through your body.

He leans in to press more open-mouthed kisses to your neck and shoulder, his slight stubble causing you to shiver. “I love the way you make my body feel when we’re together,” he says as he rolls his hips forward, his clothed erection gliding against your butt. He slams his eyes shut, groaning as he throws his head back, pulling his lip in between his teeth. “God, you make me feel so good.”

You whimper and his hands start to roam again. They’re rubbing up and down your belly now, inching closer and closer to the waistband of your sleep shorts. “This baby belly of yours is a beautiful thing, and I don’t want you to ever forget that. You are going to be sexy to me no matter this looks like.”

He moves his lips to just outside your ear, his eyes shut and hands stilling at the bottom of your belly. You can feel his lips moving against the shell of your ear as he whispers hotly, “Does this feel like I’m any less turned on just because your belly sticks out?” He rolls his hips forward again, more forcefully than before and you gasp, both of you groaning this time.

“God, Josh.”

“You see what you do to me?” he huffs, as you feel him scoot back ever so slightly. He places his splayed hand over your chest, pulling you back to him. “Lean back against me,” he whispers, and you do so, this new angle more like if you were sitting in a recliner.

His hands start to move again, lower now as his fingertips start to sink below your waistband, teasing just along the top.

As he starts to speak again, with your head laid on his chest, you can feel the rumble of his voice from within. “I love that every time I am with you, I still can’t believe all of this is real. That I actually get to have you. That I get to touch you.” As he finishes his sentence, his fingers plunge into your panties and into your folds, his two middle fingers running up and down your slickness.

You let out a choked cry, arching up into his touch.

“God, I love those sounds you make,” he says, groaning as his fingers plunge lower, collecting and spreading your wetness around.

You moan again, raising your hips to beg him for more. He doesn’t make you wait as he thrusts two thick fingers inside you.

“Oh God, Josh!” you moan, eyes rolling, and hips raising up on their own accord to push him in even further.

“Jesus Christ you’re so warm and wet. I love how turned on you get for me,” he says as he starts to pump his fingers in and out, thumb dipping down to collect a bit of wetness before circling your mound, gradually applying more pressure where you want it.

Your mouth drops open, head lolling as you start to pant.  He takes his free hand and grasps your chin, tilting your head back to look up at him.  
  
“Look at me, baby girl.” You open your glassy eyes to look up at him. His eyes are lidded and full of lust. “I want you to know that I am so stupidly in love with you that it’s insane.”

He speeds his fingers up slightly, and your eyes start to roll back, but you fight it. It’s all you can do to keep your eyes open right now.

“I cannot wait to make you my wife.” His fingers speed up even more, and you can feel him continuously rolling his hips against you now. You feel the heat in your stomach start to spread and your thighs start to shake as you pant harder, a constant string of moans falling from your lips now.

“A-and no matter what you may look like on the out-outside... God…. it is you, on the inside, that I f-fell in love with… Jesus.”

He huffs out a deep breath before leaning down and connecting his lips roughly with yours. He rolls his hips again and moans into your mouth as he adds a third finger, slightly speeding up even more.  You cry out, his fingers thrusting in and out of you as his thumb works even quicker patterns across your mound. You arc up and suddenly you’re seeing white. Your orgasm hits you, mouth frozen against his in a silent scream as he pulls your bottom lip through his teeth, adding an extra bite to the static electric charge that is coursing through your body.

You pant as you start to come down, eyes still unable to focus on anything quite yet. He pulls his fingers from between your legs and leans down next to your ear, whispering, “Lay down for me.” You feel him move out from behind you so that you can lay the rest of the way down. Your legs are still shaking, bent at the knees as you feel him reach up and start to ease your panties and sleep shorts down your legs.

You look down and see that he has already discarded his clothes as he crawls over and on top of you. As he hovers over you, bracing himself on his forearms on either side of your head, he looks down at you, a deep loving expression on his face. You don’t know what it is, but his expression, so caring, so loving, so affectionate that it has you tearing up as you feel one tear escape and trail down your cheek.

He brings one hand over, cupping your cheek and wiping away the tear with a swipe of his thumb.

“You are beautiful,” he speaks softly, thumb still stroking back and forth on your cheek. “You are the most magnificent thing that I have ever seen. And I can’t promise that I’m going to last long, but I would really, _really_ like to make love to my fiancé.”

“Josh,” you whisper as you reach up to run your fingers through his hair, pulling his head down as your hand reaches the back of his head. He kisses you gently but firm, lining himself up and pushing in without ever breaking the kiss. You both pull away and moan, the feeling almost overwhelming to you both.

He sits still for a moment, and you take that time to wrap your legs around his waist. He pulls back and starts to move again, and as he does so, he slides his hands up your forearms, interlacing his fingers with yours when he reaches your hands.

He sets a rhythm and is quickly just a mess of heavy breathing, moans, and grunts. He has his eyes squeezed shut and mouth slightly open, completely lost in how good it feels.

“Josh,” you whisper, trying to get him to look at you. He opens his eyes as much as he can, gazing down at you with heavily lidded eyes.

“Yes, baby girl?” he asks, starting to make shorter, rougher thrusts.

“I love you,” you vow, and his eyebrows knit together, raised, as his eyes roll back.

“God,” he cries, bringing your hand up to his lips and placing a kiss to your ring. “I love you.”

One more thrust and he is gone, his orgasm pulsing through him as he body quakes and shivers above you.

You rub your free hand up and down his back and through his hair as he rides it out. Once he gets his wits about him, he carefully moves off you, pulling the covers back so you both can climb under for sleep.

He pulls you tight to him, your belly pushing into his stomach as your legs intertwine.

“Thank you, for that, Josh,” you murmur into his chest. “That really… it meant a lot to hear you say those things.”

“You're welcome, sweetheart,” he says, pulling you tighter and placing a kiss to the top of your head.  “I meant every bit of it too, but you gotta promise me something.”

“Hmm?”

“You gotta promise that you’ll never talk that way again, okay? I love you with every fiber of my being, and it hurts me to hear you say such things. So, never again, okay? Promise?”

“Promise,” you whisper into his chest, placing a kiss there before falling asleep within the warmth of his arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	12. Chapter 12

You turn the water off and step out of the shower, wrapping your dripping hair in a towel. You and Josh had plans to go out for lunch and do some shopping together later today, but little did he know that you secretly planned to stop in the jewelry store and get him his own engagement ring. It wouldn’t be anything as fancy as you planned his actual wedding ring to be, just a temporary gesture that you knew he would really appreciate, however unorthodox the idea of male engagement rings may be.

You understood that being engaged and getting married was a big deal to him, and was something he had waited for a very, very long time for. Having his own engagement ring would make him feel particularly loved and wanted every time he looked down and saw it on his finger, and that is definitely something you wanted for him. You wanted him to feel every bit as loved and special that he always made you feel, and if judging by how much he kissed, rubbed, and played with your ring was anything to go by, he’d love it.

You dry off and start to get dressed when your playlist changes over to one of your absolute favorites, End of All Things, by Panic. It’s not the studio version, but one you downloaded off youtube of their live performance in Cleveland, Ohio from back in 2014. Not only was the song beautiful, especially after you found out that they weren’t just lyrics but were actually Brendon’s wedding vows to his wife, but the high notes he hits at the end spoke to your soul in a way that made you erupt in goosebumps every time the song played. You swore to yourself that if you ever heard that song live, you’d probably end up bawling your eyes out.

“Yesss!” you whisper to yourself as you grab your phone and speaker off the bathroom counter, turning it up as you walk out into the bedroom.  Sitting the speaker down on the dresser, you sing along as you grab your shoes and a pair of socks, sitting on the edge of the bed to put them on.

“Whether near or far, I am always yours. Any change in time, we are young again,” you sing along softly as you attempt to put on your shoes and socks. Your belly is really getting in the way these days, unbendable and big enough around that it made it difficult to get your leg up high enough to slip on your socks and tie your shoes. Slip-on shoes and ballet flats may very well be in your near future.

“Lay us down. We're in love,” you continue to sing as you start on the other foot.

“In these coming years, many things will change, but the way I feel will remain the same.” Finally getting both your shoes on, you stand and give your hair one final rub with the towel before tossing it into the hamper and starting to make the bed.

You pull the sheets tight and flat, followed by the comforter. You toss the pillows down to smooth out the blanket before placing them back up top, patting them both as a final gesture before moving to the bottom of the bed to finish straightening the blanket out to be even on both sides.

“Lay us down, we're in love.” You’re singing a little bit louder now, and as he begins the build to the high notes, you sing right along with him. And even though his high notes are ridiculous, you are fully prepared to continue to sing right along with him, doing your best to match his tone. You’re no singer, but that’s not gonna stop you from singing along anyway.

Just as he begins to crescendo into the high notes, you sing even louder, ready to give it your all when you are startled to feel strong arms suddenly wrapped around your middle, holding you tight.

“Aaaahhhh!” you scream, your body flinching in a startled reaction. Giggling, Josh leans in and places a chaste kiss to your neck, and you soon realize what is actually happening. “Josh! Oh my gosh!” you exclaim, escaping his grip to reach over and turn the speaker back down.

“Hey, that was pretty good. You screamed almost as high as he does,” he teases.

“Ugh, how long were you standing there, listening?”

“Pretty much since you came out of the bathroom,” he admits, guiltily.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry you had to witness that,” you say, hands flying to your face. “I’m a terrible singer.” You can feel your face flushing a bit as you lower your hands, looking away. You’re actually not a bad singer, per se, but you’re no Brendon Urie with those high notes, that’s for sure.

“Stop. It was wonderful. Especially those beautiful words coming out of your mouth, in your voice,” he says lovingly, crossing the room and pulling you back to him again, placing his forehead on yours, the band of his backward hat pressing against your skin.

“Still, it’s gotta be weird for you, hearing that. I mean, you actually know him. He’s your friend.”

“And soon he’ll be your friend too.”

Oh yeah. You forgot that Josh knowing all these people soon meant that you would know them as well, and that’s not something you had even begun to wrap your head around.  How is this your life, again?

“I can’t guarantee that everyone we invite to the wedding will be able to attend, but you’ll still get to meet a lot of my friends before the wedding, I’m sure.”

“Speaking of, while I was in the shower, I was thinking, how do you feel about having a winter wedding? December-ish? I know that you love that time of year, and it’d also give me just about a year to get back into shape after the baby is born. I could use it as motivation,” you say, chuckling.

Still holding you close, once you mention the baby his hands unconsciously move down to hold your belly before speaking. “Like I told you, whatever day you choose will be perfect as long as that’s the day you become my wife.” He leans down and places a kiss to your forehead, “But I agree, I love winter. The pretty colors, the smell of burning wood and crisp air, cold weather, hot chocolate… we could have lots of twinkling lights; it would be beautiful.”

“What about your schedule, though? I know you’re releasing your new album this upcoming spring, but will you already be on tour by winter of next year?” He moves to sit on the edge of the bed and you sit next to him.

“I mean, it’s still early enough right now that nothing is set in stone, so if I go to them and say ‘hey, I’m getting married on such and such day next year’...and oh my gosh, I can’t believe I just said that,” he whispers to himself, eyes lighting up and a huge grin on his face, “then they can work our tour dates around it so I can be home for a few days before and after. But honestly, we have about a year after the album drops before we’ll start touring. We start planning the show about a month after the album release, and then once the show is fully planned out, which takes about 6 months, then we’ll spend about another 6 months rehearsing before we actually start tour. So that works out to... roughly spring of 2019, right? I don’t know. We can ask Tyler for more details; sorry that doesn’t help much.”

“Actually, Josh, that helps a ton. That gives us enough time to have the wedding next winter, go on our honeymoon, and be back well before you have to start promoting and touring.”

You stand to grab your phone off the dresser and open your calendar app, flipping to December of 2018 before sitting back down next to Josh. “Okay, so if we have the wedding on a Saturday, our choices of dates are December 1st-” You stop reading, looking up to see Josh leaning back, full on belly laughing.

“Oh man, Tyler would be so mad!” he says, leaning back on his elbows.

“Why?” you ask, scrunching your forehead in confusion.

“That’s his birthday! I’m sure he’d love to share a birthday with my wedding date,” he says, laughing hard enough again that he pulls his knees up, arms curling into his chest and folding himself into a little ball. You smile at him, amused.

“Yeaaah, we should probably avoid that one, then. Okay, moving on,” you say, clearing your throat as you glance back down to your phone. “Next up we have December 8th.” He simply nods so you keep going. “December 15th, December 22nd, and then after Christmas we have December 29th.”

“I vote no on the 29th. I wanna get married before Christmas.”

“Okay, no 29th. And with Maddy due December 20th of this year, maybe we should avoid the 22nd. I doubt the poor girl would want to spend her 1st birthday at our wedding.”

“So that leaves us, what, the 8th or the 15th?” he asks, sitting up and glancing over at your phone.

“Yep. The 8th or the 15th. Hmm,” you hum, considering both dates. “Should we do the 8th, since the 15th is just 10 days before Christmas?”

“Yeah, but just think of how exciting it’ll be if we _do_ have it the 15 th. Everyone will already be excited for Christmas, all of the decorations and lights will be out everywhere you go, you and I will be extra excited for our wedding… it’ll be like having two Christmases every year,” he says gleefully. He looks so much like a giddy, excited child that who are you to deny this beautiful man something he so clearly wants?

“Alright, well then I think that settles it. We have our date,” you say, reaching over to grab your planner off of the nightstand.  “December 15th, 2018.”

“December 15th, 2018,” he repeats as you open the book and flip to the first page, taking your fuzzy white pen and writing the date on the line.

“Alright, it’s official. It’s in the book. No going back now,” you say, looking up into his beautiful chocolate eyes.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he murmurs as he leans over, placing a warm, soft kiss to your lips.

\-----

Josh has a hair appointment at 11:30, which, lucky for you, is in the same shopping center as the jeweler you’d made arrangements with. You sit with him in the waiting area until it’s his turn, and when they call his name, you tell him that you’re going to run next door and grab a quick coffee, secretly planning to pick up his ring. If all goes well, you should be able to sneak back fairly quickly, before his haircut is finished, and he’ll be none the wiser.

Being the planner that you are, you already called the jeweler this morning to make sure it’d be ready for pickup, and they assured you that it would be, you just have to come in, show proof of ID, and you’d be on your way.

The door chimes as you walk in, and you are quickly greeted by a worker.

“Hello, welcome to Alexanders. How can we help you today,” she says cheerily.

“Hi. I called this morning about picking up a ring, under the name Katherine.”

“Oh yes, I remember. We have it for you right over here.” She leads you over to a register where she pulls a small, black velvet ring box out from under the counter. She opens it up and lets you inspect the ring before ringing you up.

You had picked out a simple, burnished black titanium ring with a thin, glossy pinstripe that wrapped around the ring on the outside, and on the inside, it was an iridescent purple titanium. You could imagine it on him and it was going to look so good, matching well with his overall style.

“Everything look okay?” she asks as you hand her the box back.

“Yes, everything is perfect,” you say, offering her a kind smile. She gives you your total and starts to place the ring in a bag.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d rather just have the box by itself. It’s a surprise and I need to keep it hidden.

Her face lights up and she hands over the black velvet box, which you gently place deep inside your bag. You thank her again, taking your receipt and exiting the shop, quickly heading to the coffee shop next to the salon. You order him a cold brew and an iced tea for yourself. By the time you get back to the salon, he is finished with his haircut, hat firmly back on his head, and is at the counter, paying.

“Hey, babe. What took so long?” he asks, leaning down to place a kiss to your forehead.

“Sorry, long line. I guess everyone had the same idea for their lunch breaks,” you quip, only slightly out of breath.

He finishes paying and you hand him his iced coffee as you’re leaving the salon.

Together the two of you walk slowly, hand in hand down the street with him pointing out little shops here and there that he used to frequent while growing up or when he used to live here.

When you reach the end of the street, you stop at a little sandwich shop for lunch, Josh claiming that they have the best turkey club sandwiches in town. Once seated and orders were taken, he starts up a rather serious conversation.

“So, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” he says, nervously playing with his fingers and looking kind of anxious.

“Okay, sure. What is it?” you ask curiously. What could be so important that it’s got him this on edge?

“Well, I’ve been thinking, and I kind of miss it out here. Like, a lot, actually. So how would you feel about moving out here to Ohio with me?”

“Josh! Are you serious? As in, you’d be moving from LA back to Columbus?” You are shocked but so excited at the same time; however, you’re trying to keep your excitement contained so you can get more information from him first. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.

“Well, yeah. I mean, you, Maddy, and Jenna have all grown so close, and to be honest with you, I mean, LA is great and all, but I miss being around my best friend. I miss Tyler. I miss my family. I don’t like being so far away from them all the time, especially if you and I are going to be starting a family of our own soon,” he says sincerely, reaching across the table to hold your hand. You smile warmly up at him, encouraging him to continue.

“Don’t get me wrong, LA is a really cool place to live. It has great weather, like, all the time, and there are tons of opportunities there, but I just… I miss home, you know?”

“Josh,” you say quietly, “of course! That makes complete sense, and I’d love to live here with you.”

“Really?! Oh my gosh,” he says, letting out a whoosh of air. “That’s so great. I’ve already started looking at a couple of houses out here. Not in person or anything, just looking around online.” He looks up at you, beaming as he continues, “I was thinking we could move shortly after the baby is born. But, I-I don’t want to rush you or any-anything. Whenever you think you’re ready would be okay,” he says, almost timidly.

“I think that’s a great idea. It’ll be much easier to plan a wedding if we live out here as well. This is such a wonderful surprise, Josh.”

He leans across the table, giving you a quick kiss. “Thank you, Kat. I love you.”

“I love you too, Josh. And speaking of that… and surprises… I have a little surprise for you too,” you say pulling your purse into your lap to dig out the ring box. Now is the perfect time, especially after that conversation, to give him his ring. Josh just sits and watches you, an amused expression on his face.

“Joshua William Dun,” you say as you pull the box out, opening it and holding it out to him in the middle of the table. His eyes widen and his mouth drops open as he flicks his stare between you and the ring you’re holding out to him.  “Will you marry me?”

His face cracks into a giant, eye-crinkling smile as he takes the box from you, pulling the ring out to get a better look at it.

“And what is this? What did you do?”

“It’s an engagement ring, silly. I wanted you to have one as well. Do you like it?”

He turns it over a few more times, watching how the glossy stripe shines in the light, and how the purple underneath changes color slightly with the movement. He slips it on his finger, and if possible, smiles even bigger. You knew he would love it.

“This is amazing. I love it. Thank you,” he says, holding his hand out in front of him and admiring how it looks with his new ring.

“So, is that a yes?”

“Yes,” he says, leaning over to give you another kiss, longer this time, onlookers be damned.  “Yes, of course it’s a yes. And not soon enough, either.”

\------

“Heyyy, anybody home?” Josh calls from the front door.

“Hey! We’re in here,” you hear Maddy call from the living room. Tyler’s got one of the game systems hooked up, and Jenna and Maddy are squished together on the couch looking at baby shower stuff on her laptop.

“How was lunch guys? Did you have a good time?” Jenna asks.

“We sure did. Look at what she got for me,” Josh says, proudly holding out his left hand for all of them to view.

“Oh my gosh, is that what I think it is?” Maddy asks, pointing to his ring.

“Yeah! She bought me an engagement ring. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Really? Oh my gosh, that’s awesome. And it’s so beautiful, too. Suits you,” Maddy compliments.

“Yeah, that’s awesome, Josh. I love it,” Jenna agrees.

“I have to say, I don’t hate the way you look with a wedding ring on,” Tyler adds.

“Well, and that’s not all. Josh, tell ‘em,” you say, turning to Josh, nodding to him with a sly smile on your face. You can’t wait for this reaction.

“So today at lunch, Kat and I decided that after the baby is born,” he pauses, glancing around for dramatic effect, “her and I will be moving back out here to Ohio.”

Immediately everyone is on their feet, and there is a chorus of screams and squeals echoing throughout the house.

“Oh my gosh, are you serious? This is so wonderful, Josh,” Jenna says, pulling him into a hug.

“And you,” Maddy says, grabbing your hands and swinging them back and forth, “we get to have you out here with us all the time,” she says, pausing to squeal, clapping her hands together. “This is going to be so fun, I’m so excited!”

Tyler, who has remained mostly quiet throughout the news, silently pulls Josh into a hug tighter than Josh has felt from Tyler in a long time.

“It’s about dang time, brother. I’ve missed you. I didn’t want to tell you cause I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but man, I hated you living out in LA.”

“I’ve missed you too, Tyler. Really.” They’re both just staring at each other, holding each other at arm's length. You let them have their moment before speaking up again.

“Okay, okay. Not that we’re trying to kill anyone, but there is one more thing… Josh?”

Josh doesn’t say anything, just takes a step back, waiting for everyone to look at him before removing his hat. It’s finally Tyler’s turn to shout.

“Holy crap! All your hair fell off!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> I'm now planning a wedding that's not even mine. Whoops!
> 
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	13. Chapter 13

 “You sure you don’t want my jacket?” Josh asks as you step out of his car and start walking… okay, maybe more like waddling, hand in hand towards the Babies R Us store. “At least to cover your arms with?”

It was the second weekend in November; you and Maddy were both due in roughly 6 weeks, and with it being overcast and highs only reaching about 50 degrees, the weather in Ohio had definitely turned chilly.

“Trust me, I’ve got enough body heat over here for two. This weather feels awesome to me. I just hope that the rain holds off for the baby shower tomorrow.”

“It should be fine. Maddy and Jenna have been keeping a close eye on the weather, and if it does rain tomorrow, it's not supposed to be until tomorrow night,” he says, rubbing his thumb along the top of your knuckles, grazing the top of your ring.

Walking into the store, you hear Josh take a small gasp of breath as you stop just inside the doors to glance around. You look over at him and see that he is wide-eyed, looking slowly from one side of the store to the other, scanning all the different baby items. His face is carrying an expression that clearly states that he is suddenly, and completely, overwhelmed.

“Oh my gosh,” he whispers, eying up an entire wall of different brands of diapers. “Do babies really need all of this stuff?” he asks, turning to you concerned. You can’t help but chuckle at him a bit before answering.

“Need? No. There are only a few, bare essentials that you actually _have to have_ , but there are a lot of newer gadgets and things that will definitely make things easier as a parent if you choose to splurge,” you soothe, rubbing your free hand up and down his arm before letting go to grab a cart. You throw your purse in and let him push as you begin to navigate the store.

“Do you know what you want to get them yet?” he asks as you walk towards the right side of the store, entering the aisles with bottles, nipples, breastfeeding supplies, and binkies.

“I always have a three-gift rule for baby showers: something practical, something cute, and something useful. As for practical, I already have that one picked out. I like to buy baby medicine and stuff since that’s one of the most overlooked items for showers, and you usually end up needing them a lot sooner than you’d think,” you say, grabbing a pink and purple 2 pack of soothie binkies and putting it in the cart. “Plus, I plan to take all the little medicine bottles and stuff and make a cute little bouquet out of it.  

“Baby medicine? You mean like butt cream and stuff?”

“Well, yeah, butt cream, but also things like infant Tylenol, Motrin, gas drops, Orajel, baby thermometers, Vaseline, nail clippers… all that stuff.”

You look over after placing a pink healthcare kit in the cart and he is all wide-eyed again, so you try to distract him with your own questions.

“What about you? Do you know what you wanna get her?” you distract, turning down the aisle with all the different baby wipes, the smell of clean diapers and baby powder filling your noses.

“No, not really. Not yet, but I believe I’ll know it when I see it. That or you can tell me what you think I should get and we’ll just go with that,” he says, folding his arms and leaning over onto the cart handle, slowly pushing the cart like a skateboard.

“Nah, you’ll do fine. It’ll mean more coming from Uncle Josh anyway. Here, what do you think of this? Useful?” you ask, holding up a 3 pack of sensitive skin baby wipes.

“Definitely useful. Tyler and I use those on tour all the time for all kinds of different stuff.”

“Okay then. Useful and practical done. Now I just need something cute,” you say, placing the wipes in the cart next to the other items.

“Hey,” he says, motioning down his front with a smug grin, “I’m right here, you know.” He breaks into a wide smile, grinning teasingly over at you.

“Yeah, that’s very true, “you say as you place your hand on his chest. “But I’m only willing to share you with baby Ellie so much,” you finish, standing on your toes to kiss his cheek.  

“You mean you don’t wanna give me away?”

“Nope, you’re mine to keep, forever and ever, remember?” you say, raising his left hand and kissing his ring.

“How could I forget?” he asks, leaning down for a soft, lingering kiss.

You continue to walk the store, looking at all the gear and gadgets, Josh asking questions here and there about different things like why you need two types of car seats, or which is better, a front to back style swing or a side to side style swing.

When you walk past the section that holds all the nursery furniture, things like cribs, gliding rocking chairs, and bassinets, you notice that Josh turns quiet and starts to get a very far off, longing look on his face.

He’s told you before, but it is very evident in this moment that he is having a hard time with the idea that the baby in your belly, the one that he’s grown so attached to, is not actually his, and after you give birth her next month, she will go home to New York with her parents. He will not be able to bring her home and hold her in his arms while he rocks with her in one of those chairs. He won’t get to stand at the door of a nursery you two decorated together to watch her sleep quietly in one of those cribs. He won’t get to be the one who soothes her, cradling her as he feeds her a bottle at 2 am before rocking her back to sleep in one of those bassinets.

His eyebrows are raised and his mouth is downturned a bit, clearly longing for something that was never his, mournful in this moment.

“Hey,” you say softly, lightly touching his arm, “you okay?” He turns and looks down on you with sad eyes.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I… I’m fine,” he says quietly with a weak attempt at a smile, not at all convincing. You pull him into a hug anyway, placing your ear on his chest and arms wrapped around him under his jacket, just holding him tight for a moment. He places his cheek on top of your head briefly when all of a sudden…

“Oh my gosh! That’s it!”

You quickly let go and take a step back, whipping around and following his line of sight to see what’s got him shouting so excitedly.

“Oh my god, look at it. It’s so adorable!” He dashes over to one of the cribs, pulling out a large, minky, plush elephant. It’s loosely stuffed and larger, about 2 feet long, and doubles as a toy and a pillow.

“Holy cow, that’s perfect! An elephant for Ellie. Maddy can even use it as decoration in the nursery if she wanted to. Plus, it totally matches the baby shower theme tomorrow. Good job, Josh!” you praise, patting him on the back. “See, I told you you’d find the perfect gift.”

He strokes the soft toy for a moment before putting the elephant in the cart, a genuine, proud smile back on his face.

Still needing a cute gift for your three-gift rule, you eventually make your way over to the area where all the baby clothes are kept. You’re just casually looking around, picking up anything that catches your eye and trying to avoid all the Christmas themed clothes when Josh walks over, holding up what could be _the_ most perfect baby outfit you’ve ever seen.

It’s newborn size and is a white onesie, bodysuit style outfit with a pink elephant on the front. Underneath, in gold glittery writing it says, “little peanut”, and the elephant has a little gold glittery heart on the tip of her nose. The outfit is completed with a little pink and gold polka dotted headband tied with a bow knot and matching ruffle butt bottom. It’s adorable.

You gasp, covering your mouth with your hand.

“Ooooh,” you coo, “Josh, it’s perfect!”

“Isn’t it? But let’s ask the expert,” he says, placing his left hand on the side of your belly and draping the outfit over the front of your bump.

He leans down and asks your belly, “What do you think, Sophie? You think baby Ellie will like it?” he asks, grinning. He waits for a second and then looks back up and you. “She said she’ll love it.

\-----

When Maddy and Will finally settled on the name Elliana with the nickname of Ellie, it was also immediately determined that both her nursery and baby shower would be pink, gray, and white with an elephant theme.

The girls had done an excellent job decorating for the shower, waking up extra early to get started with not only decorating but getting the food and snacks ready for the party. The snack table featured all kinds of pink-themed food items, including a pink lemonade punch which you and Sophie thoroughly enjoyed making this morning, and pink frosted cupcakes, specially made by Aunt Jenna, that were carefully arranged on the serving tray in the shape of an elephant.

The shower was a great success. Everyone played a few typical baby shower games, including marking your guesses for her actual arrival date on a homemade, pink, paint chip calendar, but you and the girls agreed to save the best game for after the gifts since it was bound to get a little messy.

Maddy was properly gifted with several cute outfits, lots of diapers and other baby care essentials, an heirloom rocker from mom and dad, a convertible car seat with matching minky, elephant themed car seat cover and blanket from Jenna and Tyler, and of course, the gifts from you and Josh. She loved and cooed over all of her gifts, but especially the plush elephant Josh found.

When all the gifts had been opened and the party started to wind down, Maddy announces that they have one more game to play, but it is for the guys only and will need to take place outside. The guys all exchange curious, bewildered expressions while everyone makes their way outside to the backyard.

Maddy takes a stand by a clothes basket filled with 6 larger pink balloons. Next to her, placed in a horizontal line are 6 chairs, each with a closed egg carton on the seat. Everyone else takes a stand off to the side as she begins to speak.

“Ok, so this game is called Potty Break. Any pregnant woman can vouch just how frequently we have to pee!”

“You got that right,” you agree quietly, earning a soft chuckle from Josh. He reaches over and gently rubs your belly, humming softly as he pushes his nose against your hair before placing a kiss to your cheek as Maddy continues.

“So what you do, guys, is place a balloon under your shirt, then place a ping-pong ball between your legs or knees. At the sound of ‘go’, you will race down to those buckets,” she says as she points across the lawn, “and drop the ball, still between your legs and without using your hands, into those small buckets. Whoever has the most in their bucket at the end of the timer wins this giant bag of Reese's Cup Minis,” she finishes, pointing at Jenna who is holding up the large bag of candy.

“Oh, you are all going down. That bag of Reese’s is MINE,” Tyler taunts.

“Well, not so fast there, Tyler. There is one more thing,” Maddy adds.  “As we all are obviously aware of now, a couple of you are highly competitive.”

“Pffft. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tyler teases, rolling his eyes.

“Sooo… we’ve replaced the ping-pong balls with raw eggs. If you crack or break your egg, you must return to the starting line to grab a new egg and try again. The egg will not count in your total if it breaks after falling into the bucket. We’ve placed a small burp cloth inside each bucket to help soften the fall, but don’t let it fool you. They’re not as cushiony as you’d think. Good luck, boys.”

You can already hear the laughter and chuckling beginning, especially from all the females in the family as Josh, Tyler, Zach, Jay, Will and Chris all grab a balloon and line up, side by side, next to their chair.

You start to giggle watching them struggle to get the balloon under their shirts before finally not being able to hold it in any longer as you start to full on laugh out loud. You make your way over to Josh, helping him to shove the balloon under his tight shirt.

“Oh my lord, Josh. Where did you get this shirt, baby gap?”

“Hey, at least mine fits all the way under my shirt, unlike Tyler, who’s halfway giving birth over there,” Josh says overly loud, obviously taunting Tyler.

“Mind your business, preggo!” Tyler shoots back over his shoulder, yanking at his shirt hem.

“There. Perfect,” you say as you step back to admire your work. Josh looks down, hands automatically finding their way to his ‘belly’.

“Awwe, babe, you make such a cute pregnant person!” you tease, reaching out to rub his fake belly.

“Maybe so, but you’re the cutest,” he says, leaning forward to attempt to kiss you. He quickly finds out how impossible that is, his ‘belly’ and yours too big to allow you two to connect lips. Suddenly you see a bright flash and hear shutter sounds. Turning, you see Jenna with her phone pointed at you and Josh.

“Sorry, had to,” is all the explanation she offers, a wolfish grin on her face.

“Good luck,” you whisper in his ear, kissing him on the cheek for good measure, before taking your place on the sidelines next to Jenna.   

“Is everybody ready?” Maddy calls.

There are several noises in agreement, one or two of the guys adjusting their eggs before nodding.

“Okay, on your marks.” Everyone squares their shoulders. “Get set.” Tyler throws his arms out to his sides as if that’ll help him balance. “GO!”

The boys take off, waddling their way across the lawn, knees tightly pressed together while all the girls cheer them on. They get about four or five steps in before you all hear a crunching, splattering sound.

“Dang it! This is harder than it looks!” Zach exclaims, turning around to get another egg.

“You gotta know how to finesse it, son,” Chris teases, still waddling with his first egg toward his bucket.

Not long after that are two more splats, almost back to back. You see Jay and Will quickly turn around, giggling, running to grab another egg.

Tyler and Josh are neck and neck, almost near their buckets when you hear a crunching noise, followed by Ty yelling.

“Oh come on!” he shouts, raw egg dripping down his pants from where he squeezed his legs together too hard.

“What’s the matter, Ty? Did your water break?” Josh taunts as he squats down over his bucket, gently letting the egg roll inside. It lands without cracking. You and the other girls erupt in cheers, Josh and Chris the only ones so far with eggs in their buckets.

Josh turns to run and grab another egg, but quickly loses it, unable to properly run when faced with the sight of Tyler waddling, thighs and knees together but feet spread, toward his bucket. He is cackling, eyes watering as he continues to attempt to run, doubled over in laughter at his best friend.  

“I hope you’re getting all this on camera,” you state, turning to Jenna, who, in fact, has her phone out and filming the shenanigans.

“Oh, you bet your hind end I am! No way I’d miss the chance to film this, this is gold!” she says, laughing out loud as Ty trips, but maintains his egg, finally getting one in his bucket.

“One minute mark, boys!” Maddy calls.

The boys all desperately try to speed up to no avail. Tyler gets desperate, taking two eggs at a time on his next attempted trip.

“Hey, Jenna!” Chris calls out. “I don’t wanna alarm you, but it looks like Tyler’s having twins over here.”

“Tyler!” she scolds. “Are you cheating?” she asks, still laughing.

“Nooo…?”

“10 seconds!”

They all speed up, Tyler and Josh both reaching their buckets. Tyler manages to drop the first egg in safely, but the second eggs cracks when it lands on top of one of the other eggs.

“...5….4”

Josh safely drops his second egg into the bucket.

“3...2...1...TIME!”

Everyone cheers and the boys stand up, all of them a bit winded.

“Alright, let’s see how each of you did,” Maddy says, walking over to the buckets.

“Jay: 1 egg!” There is polite applause heard throughout.

“Will: 1 egg!” More polite applause.

“Zach: 0 eggs.”

“Aww, better luck next time, bud,” Chris soothes.

“Dad: 2 eggs! However, one is cracked for a total of 1 egg.”

“Tyler: Oh my gosh 3 eggs!” There is a round of louder applause before Maddy continues. “Unfortunately, one is broken, bringing the total down to 2 eggs.”

“And finally, Josh: 2 eggs! We have a tie!!”

There is loud applause and cheers as both boys approach Maddy for their prize, balloons still under their shirts.

“So, we prepared for such an instance and bought two bags so no one would have to share; HOWEVER,” she says, grinning mischievously at the boys, “the tradeoff is, you have to let us take pictures of you boys together with the balloons in your shirts.”

Josh laughs and Tyler just sighs.

“As long as these don’t end up on instagram,” Tyler warns.

“Well, no promises.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	14. Chapter 14

“Wakey, wakeeyyy,” you hear as you feel slow, light kisses being peppered all over your face. You stir slightly, your leg and arm thrown over your large body pillow to help balance out the weight and bulk of your sizeable belly, the pillow helping to remove some of the pressure from your hips and back.

“I made you some breakfast in bed.” You grunt as you rock slightly, struggling to push yourself up into a sitting position. The description of feeling like an upside-down turtle doesn’t seem far off at all. You finally sit up and rub at your sleepy eyes as he gently places a tray over your legs, as the wonderful, sweet aromas fill your nose, making your mouth water. He had really gone all out this morning making pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon, all topped off with a large glass of iced tea and a bendy straw.

“Josh. This looks amazing, thank you. You’re too sweet to me,” you say as you stretch your head up for a quick kiss.

“Well, you deserve it. Happy pre-anniversary, beautiful.” He smiles sweetly, taking your cheek into his palm and kissing you long and slow, morning breath be damned, before shuffling back into the kitchen for his own tray.

That’s right. Today is your pre-anniversary. In exactly one year, you and Josh would be getting married. Just 365 days.  

He sits down next to you on the bed, placing his own tray over his outstretched legs. You pick up a crispier piece of bacon and start munching on it as he takes a large bite of pancakes, humming around his fork. You giggle at him, watching him enjoy his breakfast. He swallows and turns to you, grinning and chuckling slightly.

“What?” he asks, still grinning widely.  

“Nothing, you’re just insanely adorable,” you say, leaning over to leave a sticky, syrupy kiss on his cheek.

“So, anything special you wanna do today to celebrate?” he asks, cutting out another bite of pancakes.

Honestly, you had just planned on getting a few more things packed up and ready for your move. Josh’s things from his place out in LA, aside from what he needed with him at your place, were already packed up and moved out to your new home in Ohio. All that was left to do was to finish packing up your house and officially make the move after the beginning of the year. You were now just days away from delivery and wanted to still be somewhat comfortable during your recovery period after having the baby, so the official move had been postponed until mid-January.

You take a bite of your eggs and think for a moment before an idea strikes you.

“Well, it’s up to you, but I was thinking we could maybe post our announcement online?” you say, ending it as if it were a question. “Since it’s officially only one year away now, I think it’d be perfect timing.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” he says, smiling as he leans over to grab his phone off the nightstand. He pulls out the charger cord and swipes his thumb to unlock his phone. “You wanna do it from your account or mine? Or both?”

“Go for it. I’ll post it to mine a little bit later today. Just make sure you have your notification sounds off,” you tease, giving him an exaggerated, wide-eyed stare. He taps on his phone a few times before glancing up at you.

“Ready?” he asks, holding up the phone. You lean over, placing your shoulder against his as he lowers the phone to his lap so you can see the screen.

Your announcement was simple. Blurry, bokeh white Christmas lights behind an in-focus, upside down candy cane that held your wedding rings on its curve. It simply said ‘December 15, 2018; in the upper left corner, and ‘Josh & Kat’ in the lower right, both in a pretty, flourished font.

“Alright, here we go,” he says, hovering his thumb over the little check mark. “In 3...2...1…,” his thumb taps the checkmark and it is mere seconds before the likes and comment counters start rapidly ticking upwards. He clicks off his phone and sets it face down on his tray before picking up a piece of bacon, crunching into it.

“Anything else you have in mind for the day?" he asks, mouth still full of bacon.

“Well, if you’re up for it, there’s a Christmas parade today down at the Plaza. I think it starts around noon.”

“If I’m up for it,” he says rolling his eyes, “I’m always up for a Christmas parade!” he adds cheerfully. We can take a couple blankets, get some hot chocolate, and my favorite, it’ll give me an excuse to cuddle up next to you all close.” He leans over, nuzzling his nose just behind your ear as he snakes his arms around your waist.

“Oh come on, as if you really need an excuse for that,” you say, turning your head to place a kiss on his forehead.

“Very true, but I don’t plan on missing an opportunity if one presents itself,” he smirks, leaning in for a quick kiss before sitting back up, returning to his breakfast.  

“And then maybe later tonight, once it gets dark, we can go for a drive and look at all the pretty lights.”

“Sounds perfect.”

\-----

The weather was perfect for the parade. It was overcast and chilly, but the wind was calm and the temps weren’t freezing, reaching about 45 degrees.  Like Josh had said, it was great for snuggling, and snuggle he did. You took your camping chairs and blankets, but that didn’t stop him from scooting as close to you as possible, always wrapping his arms around you, rubbing your arms, or pulling you close to make sure you were warm enough.

He insisted that he get you hot chocolate, claiming that it just wouldn’t be a true Christmas parade without it. You agree and watch closely as he makes his way through the crowds, over to one of the many food trucks parked nearby.

Even though his hair is less distinguishable now, still trimmed on the sides in his normal style, but dark curly brown taking place of the neon yellow, you still worry about pushy or intrusive fans. Today he’s wearing a dark gray beanie, scarf, gloves, and a big fluffy coat, so the chances of being spotted are far fewer, but you still watch closely.  

As he’s making his way back with two large cups of hot chocolate and a funnel cake, his wide, cheerful smile falters a bit when he sees you grimacing, eyebrows knitted, shifting uncomfortably in your seat.

“Everything okay?” he asks, concerned. Behind him, a band marches by, red and white flags beings spun acting as a backdrop while a medley of Jingle Bells slowly fades into We Wish You a Merry Christmas is played. You shift again, still unable to comfortable.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just can’t seem to get comfortable. She’s running out of room and it’s kinda making my stomach muscles ache. She must really be pushing her butt out today I guess.”

“Well here,” he says, handing you one of the cups of cocoa before sitting back down in his chair. “Maybe the hot chocolate will help. It’s nice and warm, might help you both relax a bit.” He pulls his half of the blanket back over his legs and scoots close, kissing you on the cheek before placing his own cup of hot chocolate in the cup holder.

“And,” he continues, setting the funnel cake in his lap, “I got us this to munch on. Can’t go wrong with a funnel cake,” he says brightly.

“I hear that! Cheers,” you say, holding out your cup of hot chocolate toward him, letting the warm cup heat your gloved fingers. He picks up his cup and taps the lid of yours with his.

“Cheers. Happy pre-anniversary, love.”

\-----

“Honestly, I think I just need to lay down for a bit. These Braxton Hicks contractions are annoying,” you say, pulling off your gloves and hanging up your coat as you try to toe off your boots.

“Braxton Hicks contractions? What is that?” he says, bending down to help you slip off your boots.

“They’re like… practice contractions. False labor. They make your belly tighten and squeeze, just like a real contraction does, but they just don’t do anything as far as changing your cervix. They’re mostly painless, but after a while, it can cause your stomach muscles to get tired, which makes them sore and crampy.” You hang up your scarf and start to peel off your leggings, ready to climb into bed.

“Is there anything we can do to help them go away? I don’t want you to hurt. If anything, you need to be relaxing right now,” he says, toeing off his own shoes and removing his jeans.

“Yeah, there’s a couple things we can do. The big one is just resting or lying down, hence the nap, but other things like drinking a big glass of water, eating a small something, or taking a warm bath could help.” You pull the covers back and climb in, laying sort of propped up on your left side, swinging your right leg and arm over your body pillow.

“Well then that’s my cue,” Josh says as he lifts the covers up over you. He places a quick kiss to your head before stepping back and pulling his shirt over his head. “Be right back.”

When he returns, he’s got a peanut butter sandwich and a banana on a plate, and a large glass of ice water for you. You eyeball the banana before looking up at him questioningly.

“I know, I absolutely hate those things, but I heard they help with muscle cramps, so...” he says, shrugging. “Eat that and then we’ll lay down for a bit.” He walks around the bed and climbs in on his own side.

“God, I can’t wait to have my body back, all to myself,” you muse.

“Nine more days. You can do it, babe,” he encourages.  

You let him have the tv remote and he scans a couple of channels before coming to a stop on Elf. He smiles, turning the volume up slightly. Not enough that you couldn’t sleep with it on in the background, but just high enough to hear comfortably without straining.

“I love smiling; smiling’s my favorite!” he says, smiling goofily at you before twisting to set the remote down on his nightstand.”

“Yeah, well, you’re _my_ favorite,” you say, bumping him in the shoulder and taking a bit of your sandwich. He leans over and places a kiss to your shoulder in return.

“Eat. Then nap time,” he says, pointing at your plate.

You eat the snack but reluctantly drink all the water, knowing that it’s just going to cause you to wake up and have to go to the bathroom sooner than you’ll want to. You place your empty plate on your nightstand and scoot down in bed, piling your pillows around you in a nest to help you get comfortable.

You feel Josh scoot up behind you and wrap his arm around your belly, his warmth and weight very comforting. You sigh as he applies light pressure, rubbing up and down, side to side over your tight belly muscles.

“Does that feel help? Does that feel good?” he asks, placing a kiss to the base of your neck.

“Yes, it’s very soothing,” you admit, sighing as you allow your eyes to slip closed.

“Love you, Josh.”

You feel his pull him to you slightly in a makeshift hug.

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

Soon you’re both asleep as Buddy the Elf transforms a department store into a Christmas wonderland on the TV.

\-----

When you wake up a couple of hours later, it’s after 6pm and already dark out. Josh is still asleep with his arm over your belly. You smile to yourself and lightly begin tracing the shapes of the tattoo on his arm when you start to feel it. Your stomach starts to tighten again, but this time it happens quickly, and it’s strong. Not only is it strong, but it is now accompanied by a cramping pain that wasn’t there earlier today. It comes on so fast that it causes you to hold your breath and grip Josh’s arm.

It lasts for about 45 seconds before it finally starts to ease up and you can breathe again. You lightly pant, trying to regain your breath. It’s only now that you realize that you’ve been sweating. You sit for a moment, slowly taking deep breaths in and out, finally able to somewhat catch your breath when suddenly another wave comes on just as fast.  

You’re once again holding your breath, but this time you’re very aware of the crushing, cramping pain as your muscles contract seemingly tighter and tighter.  Your eyes are screwed shut and you’re slightly grunting as your grip on Josh’s arm becomes tighter and tighter, unintentionally waking him up.

He stirs a bit, letting his sluggish brain catch up before speaking softly, “Kat? Are you alright? Your belly is as hard as a rock,” he questions, slowly coming to consciousness and realizing your slightly whimpering. “Oh my god, Kat, you’re drenched in sweat. Are you alright?”

You wait for this wave so let up so you can breathe and speak again. Taking advantage of the short break, you grab his hand and squeeze, bringing it to your lips before answering.

“Josh, I think we need to go to the hospital now.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
>   
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Looks at the calendar, sees that it's been 8 days since my last post* ... I promise that I have a good reason for the delay! 
> 
> This past week my youngest son came down with strep, which basically means that he turned into a shadow where ever I went, which tbh, was mostly in bed with him. Then while the kids were on a 4 day weekend from school, the same kid that had strep tried to break up a cat fight and managed to land himself in urgent care needing stitches. It's truly been a week from hell, but I apologize all the same. Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait.

**6:38 - Arrive in Labor and Delivery**

You step off the elevators onto the 3rd floor, labor and delivery. Immediately to the right of the elevators is a receptionist station where a friendly looking nurse with long brown hair, and red scrubs with white snowflakes all over them waits to greet you. She says something to the receptionist, then grabs a clipboard and walks around the station to meet you, flipping the first page up and reading the patient name from the chart.

“Are you Kat?” she asks cheerfully. You are in between contractions at the moment, but you are still sore having to stand upright, so you just nod in confirmation. Josh has your backpack over his shoulders and your left hand in his, while he has his right arm wrapped around you, helping to steady you as you walk.

“Perfect. Follow me,” she says as she leads the way over to some large double doors. She stops to place her name badge against an access card reader, punching in a code once the card reader lights green.  The doors click loudly twice, unlocking and automatically start slowly swinging open. She turns back to you, motioning for you to follow her down the hallway.

“My name is Paige and I’ll be your triage nurse tonight, but judging by your phone call and how things look right now, I think I might end up being your labor and delivery nurse as well,” she says with a smile and a wink. She stops in front of room 307, motioning for you to go in while she follows, closing the door behind her.

The room is very spacious with hardwood floors and decorated in wood, glass, and brushed nickel. If you didn’t know better you’d say it actually looked very similar to a spa, which makes sense since they want women in labor to try and relax as much as possible during the painful process.

Across the room, Josh nervously removes your backpack and places it on one of the tables next to the longer, pull out couch that sits in front of a large window. He looks anxious and a little lost as he waits to be told what to do.

Paige motions to the hospital bed that has a large chuxs pad, one pink elastic band, one blue elastic band, and a hospital gown laid out on top.

“Kat, if you wanna go ahead and change into your hospital gown and leave your urine sample in the restroom, I’ll get started on your chart here,” she says brightly, opening a few cabinets beside the bed that reveal a computer monitor and roll out keyboard, medical scanner, a CTG machine and monitor, a blood pressure cuff, and bottle of ultrasound gel. Without taking her eyes off the monitor, she continues, “You can leave your bra and socks on if you want, but everything else has to come off.”

You reach for the green patterned gown just as another wave hits you. You lean over onto the bed, placing both of your palms flat on the mattress as you let your head dangle. You squeeze your eyes shut and crinkle your face both in pain and in concentration as you try to refrain from making any embarrassing grunts or noises of discomfort. Unfortunately, your muscles are already so sore and tired that you can’t help but whimper a little bit through your held breath, trying your best to stay quiet. Josh is quickly by your side, gripping your shoulder, rubbing firm circles onto your lower back, and telling you how good you’re doing until the contraction finally starts to ease up.

“Dad, if you want, you are more than welcome to go into the restroom with her to help her get changed and what not.”

“Okay,” Josh whispers timidly as he grabs the gown and gently guides you to the restroom just by the room’s entryway.

Once inside, he turns and quietly closes the door before turning back to you, unfolding the hospital gown as he goes. You begin to try and pull your pants down but wince in pain at the tiny bit of misery that bending motion causes you.

“Here, let me help you with that,” he says gently, stepping forward and crouching down to slide your pajama pants and undies down. He holds your pants firmly to the ground so that you can safely step out, placing them by the sink once done. Next, he moves to slowly remove your shirt, careful not to go too fast or bump your belly as you raise your arms and allow him to remove your top.

“D-do you wanna keep your bra on?” he asks softly, subconsciously afraid that talking too loudly might cause you more pain.

“No. Off. Off,” you say, quickly shaking your head side to side with your eyes squeezed shut.

“Okay. I’ll get it for you, love. You just relax and breathe.” He reaches around and unclasps your bra as you take a deep breath, trying to relax your muscles as much as you can before the next contraction comes.

You hold your arms out in front, allowing him to guide the bra down your arms. As he starts to slip on one of the sleeves of your gown, another contraction starts. You squeeze your eyes shut and shakily reach out to him, gripping his shirt in your fists as you pull him to you, leaning forward to bury your face in his chest. Your whole body starts to tremble and this time you can’t hold back a sob.

“Josh,” you cry, tears starting to fall down your cheeks, “it just hurts so bad.”

“I know. I know it does,” he comforts, kissing the top of your head. “It’ll be over in just a minute; just try to breathe,” he soothes, holding you to him tightly and rubbing the heel of his hand firmly up and down your back. The counter pressure is relieving.

“You’re okay. You’re okay, baby,” he encourages as you whimper a few more times. You take short, shallow breaths, trying to concentrate on the pleasant way Josh smells, hoping it’ll let you get through the pain or at least distract you, even if only for a moment.

When the contraction finally eases up, you blow out a shaky breath as you glance up at Josh, your eyes puffy and face streaked with tears.

“I’m so sorry,” you whisper, sniffling and smoothing out the front of his shirt. You’re both sorry about his shirt and sorry for breaking down like that in front of him due to pain. You hate showing weakness, but realize that you are completely helpless in this situation.

His soft, chocolate eyes gaze down at you with a look of adoration, love, and sympathy.

“Hey hey hey, don’t apologize to me. There’s absolutely nothing to apologize for. This is exactly why I’m here. I’m here to help you and get you through this in any way that I can, even if that means you have to rip my shirt or squeeze my hand so hard it breaks in the process.” He leans down and places a quick kiss to your forehead before he finishes slipping your gown on your arms, walking around to tie it in the back for you.

“Do you need help with that too?” he says, pointing at the cup for your urine sample. “Cause I’m more than happy to-”

“No, I can do that one myself,” you interrupt, shaking your head. “But if you could just help me sit down, maybe?”

You make your way over to the toilet and turn around, Josh right in front of you. You grip his shoulders and he holds you just under your elbows to help ease you down so you can avoid using your stomach muscles as much as possible. He hands you the cup and obstetrical wipe.

“Okay, I’ll be just outside the door. Just yell for me when you’re done and I’ll help you up and to the bed, okay?”

You nod in agreement and he exits the bathroom, leaving the door cracked just enough so he can hear you call for him.  

Once you’re in bed with your identification bands on, Josh moves to stand next to your right side while the nurse places your blood pressure cuff on the left, setting it off while she places the ctg sensors.

“Okay, so what we’re gonna do is hook you up to the monitors for a little bit, see what your contractions are doing, and then go from there.” She squirts a bit of gel onto one of the sensors before placing it lower on your belly. It doesn’t take long for the familiar sound of whooshing hoofbeats to fill the air.

“There she is,” she says as she pulls the blue elastic up and around your belly like a belt, hooking it to the sensor and securing it in place. She then takes the other sensor and places it on the top of your belly, securing it in place with the pink elastic band.

“What are these for?” Josh asks curiously, motioning at the monitors on your belly.

“These are ctg sensors or an electronic fetal monitor. Basically, what it does is the sensor down here,” she points to the blue band, “monitors the baby’s heart rate and the sensor up here,” she points to the pink band, “monitors mom’s contractions. You can see them on the monitor up here,” she points to the screen above the computer monitor. “The little squiggly line on the top row is the baby’s heartbeat, and then down here will be the contractions. The harder the contraction, the higher this line will go. Should look like little hills or mountains. And the little red lines in between each mark one minute so we can gauge how long and how far apart the contractions are.”

She walks over to the computer to enter in your blood pressure readings when another contraction starts.

“Are you starting to feel a contraction?” she asks, looking up at the monitor screen. You quickly nod your head yes as the line on the monitor starts to sharply spike up.

“Josh. Josh. Josh,” you cry out, reaching for his arm to squeeze it to you. You squeeze your eyes shut and hold your breath, letting out little whimpers as your body starts to shake.

“I’m here. I’m right here, baby. I got you,” Josh coos, brushing your hair back with the nails of his free hand.  You can’t see it, but he starts to tear up a bit, his face holding so much empathy and worry for you in this moment. He hates that you’re in so much pain, but he knows he has to be strong right now.

“Breathe, honie. You gotta remember to breathe,” Paige reminds you, so you start to breathe short, shaky, shallow puffs of air. Even the motion of breathing hurts your already aching, tender belly muscles.

Josh glances up at the monitor and sees that the hill is starting to come down, which means the contraction is letting up.

“Almost there, babe. The contraction is almost over,” he soothes as you feel your stomach muscles unclench. You turn to look behind you and see the hard spike, followed by a slow, steady decline.

“That was a big one, wasn’t it?” you say, giggling weakly, clearly still in pain but wanting to convey otherwise.

“That it was, my dear. Looks like it lasted about 45 seconds to a min, which is what we want for real labor.” You and Josh both nod your heads in agreement.

“Okay, I’ll try to make this quick, but I need to ask you some questions just in case you’re admitted. If we need to stop to breathe, just let me know and we can do that, alrighty?”

You nod your head and she proceeds to ask you several questions about your medical history, last time you had anything to eat or drink, religious preferences, who is allowed in the delivery room, and, if admitted, what kind of pain management you’d like. The whole process takes about 10 minutes, and during that time you had to stop her 3 times to wait out contractions.

“Alright, hon, this is the part everyone hates. I need to lay you back so I can check your cervix.” You glance worriedly at the monitor and then at Josh, knowing another contraction is coming soon. She picks up on your concern and adds, “We can wait until the next contraction before we do it. I’ll go get you a cool washcloth real quick.”

She returns just as the next contraction is starting, and hands the cool cloth to Josh. He dabs the soothing material across your forehead as you ride out the contraction. The washcloth feels good, but it’s not enough to distract from the crushing, agonizing pain just above your pelvis. You are once again silently sobbing as you wait for your muscles to unclench.  

Once she sees the contraction start to come down, she starts lowering the bed flat, not wanting to waste any time so that you can be upright for the next contraction, knowing that contractions while lying flat hurt worse.

“You’re gonna feel like you’re upside down, but I promise you that you’re not.” She gets the bed flat and then puts on some medical gloves before adding a generous amount of lube.

“This is gonna be uncomfortable, so bear with me and I’ll try to make this quick,” she says matter-of-factly. You nod and she inserts two fingers, checking your cervix for progress. She wasn’t kidding about it hurting. It feels like period cramps x1000, so you squeeze your eyes shut all while gripping Josh’s hand with a death grip.

“Oh yeah. Excellent. Looks like we’re about 4cm dilated and about… 75% effaced.” She nods to herself and removes her fingers, pulling off her gloves as she raises the bed back up for you.

“I will let the doctor know about your progress and we’ll continue to monitor these contractions for a bit, but I would bet money that you’re gonna get admitted,” she says, patting the top of your hand and smiling excitedly down at you. “Now, you can’t have any food or drink, but is there anything I can get you right now?”

You shake your head no and look over to Josh questioningly. He also shakes his head no before saying, “No. No thank you. We’re okay.”

“Okay, well, I’ll be back shortly, but if you need me before then just hit this red button,” she says, handing you the call button. “I’ll just be right down the hall,” she says as she exits the room.  

“I love you, you know that?” Josh asks, standing to lean over and place a kiss to your sweaty forehead. You nod your head ‘yes’ and lift your arms. He allows you to pull him closer to you so that you can sort of hug him as best you can in this awkward position.

You sigh into his shoulder, turning to place a kiss to his neck. You can’t imagine going through this without him.

 

**7:23 pm**

There’s a slight knock at the door before your nurse, Paige, walks back in with a wide smile and an IV start kit.

“Aaalright,” she says, drawing out the ‘a’ sound, “who’s ready to have a baby?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dilate: Opening up of the cervix. To be fully dilated is to be 10 centimeters, which is about equal to the diameter of a softball.
> 
> Efface: Thinning and shortening of the cervix 
> 
> Cervix: Opening to your uterus
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	16. Chapter 16

**7:23 pm**

“Aaalright, who’s ready to have a baby?” Paige says, setting the IV start kit down by the keyboard before logging in and pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail.

“Oh my god, really? Like, it’s official?” you ask, suddenly nervous, excited, and relieved all at once. The sudden surge of mixed emotions gives you a rush of butterflies and you feel your heartbeat rapidly pick up speed.  

“Yep,” she affirms. “Official, official.” You breathe out a huff of air and let your head fall back onto the pillow in relief. At least all the pain you’ve gone through tonight wasn’t for nothing and now it’s finally time.

_‘Oh my god, it’s time!’_ you think to yourself, suddenly sitting up straighter, slightly panicked.

“Josh!” you call abruptly. He is immediately on his feet, eyes wide, rocking chair swaying back and forth wildly behind him. It scoots across the floor slightly from him abandoning his seat so quickly in order to rush to the side of your bed.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he says quickly but soothingly, despite the worried, concerned look on his face, and reaches out to gently grasp your hand.

“I need you to do me a favor. Can you… unng,” you stop mid-sentence and groan as another contraction starts ramping up. You squeeze your eyes shut and try to remember to breathe, but the short, quick breaths quickly turn into panting. Paige walks over and sets the IV kit on the overbed patient table next to you, peeling it open and putting her gloves on.

“Try to take slower, longer breaths, sweetie. You’re going to end up hyperventilating and we don’t want that, do we Josh?”

Josh, startled to hear his name, glances over to Paige from watching the contraction monitor, then turns to you, nodding his head in agreement.

“She’s right. I know it hurts and that it seems like the hardest thing in the world to do right now, but try to take slower breaths, okay?”

Your eyes are still squeezed shut and a few tears are slipping out of your pinched eyelids. You are completely internalized into yourself right now. You can hear Josh and Paige, and you can understand everything they’re saying to you, but you simply can’t respond, even to just nod your head. You’re too concentrated on getting through the pain.

Finally, the contraction starts to ease up a bit and breathing starts to get easier. Your body starts to tremble again with both exertion and fatigue, but you are finally able to take a nice, deep breath, slowly opening your eyes again.

“Heyyy, there she is. There’s my beautiful girl,” Josh coos, leaning over to kiss your forehead and brush back some hair that had become stuck there. “See? I knew you could do it,” he says lovingly, smiling down at you.

You smile back weakly, completely drained of energy, but your heart is bursting. You are so completely in love with this kind, loving, and gentle man next to you. And maybe it’s the sudden influx of hormones from being in labor, but your emotions wash over you as you look to his face. He is so sweet and warmhearted, and the way he looks back at you with complete adoration and love in his chocolate eyes that it makes your heart swell even more.

How in the living world did you ever get so lucky? He is yours and you are his and you get to spend the rest of your lives together. The thought overwhelms you as you reach up and run your fingers through the front of his soft, brown, curly locks, gently coaxing his face to yours until his forehead rests against your own.

“Thank you,” you say simply. You watch as his eyes close, and then feel him tilt down to place a quick kiss to your lips before sitting up, still grinning down at you.

“Now, what did you need to ask me, love?”

“Oh, right. Can you call the intended parents for me, please? Let them know that we’re officially being admitted and that they might wanna get on a plane and start heading this way.”

He nods in agreement, standing up and crossing the room to retrieve your phone only to realize that you haven’t had it out and he’s not sure where it is. He turns back to you to ask, but you’re already ahead of him.

“I think my it’s in the front pocket of my backpack,” you say, pointing at the table where your backpack rests. He nods and turns to the table, pulling out your phone and charger.

“Ok, my dear, I’m going to get your IV started and some fluids going, but before I get started I am required to ask if you are still wanting to use an epidural for pain management and if you would like me to call that in for you now,” she says, looking at you curiously.

“Oh god yes. Definitely,” you say, wide-eyed and pleading.

“Ok, then I will go ahead and page the anesthesiologist before we get started here. I do have to inform you that you are required to have a certain amount of fluids in your system before he is able to start, so this whole bag of fluids has to be all the way in first, even if he arrives before it’s empty. Usually, he’s pretty good with timing though,” she says, holding up the bag to show you before hooking it to your IV pole.

“Okay,” you say simply, nodding in agreement. She pulls her ASCOM phone from her front pocket and dials an extension, letting the person who picks up know that room 307 is ready for an epidural. She nods and confirms a few things before she thanks them and hangs up, clipping the phone back to her front pocket.  

“Once we get this IV going, I’ll turn it up pretty high so that it goes in faster, sound okay?”

You nod again, taking a few quick, deep breaths and scrunching up your face as another contraction starts. With any luck, this will be one of the last few you will have to feel.

“If you’re starting another contraction, I can wait to get started on your IV before…” You quickly shake your head no and hold out your left arm so she can put in the IV. The faster this can all be over with, the better.

With each contraction you feel your upper belly gradually squeeze tighter and tighter while you feel hard, heavy, charlie horse style cramps right below your belly button. At the same time all that is happening, you have pain that feels like being crushed by a heavy, steel door that is relentlessly pressing down on you right above your pelvic bone, crushing you from the inside out.

You are trembling and sweating, concentrating hard on just trying to get through the pain when your mind suddenly finds Josh’s voice. He’s not speaking to you, in fact, he is on the phone at the moment, but his voice is soothing to you and you try to focus on that instead of the pain while the contraction continues on.

“Hi, Mrs. Gibson? This is Josh, Kat’s… right, Kat’s fiancé.” There’s a small pause in which he grins widely at something she said. “Well, thank you very much, and you’re very welcome. I do what I can.” He pauses and giggles again, his face starting to turn red, no doubt embarrassed at whatever compliment she is paying him.  “Well, actually, we’re calling with some news. She wanted me to call and let you know…”

“Okay, all done,” you hear Paige say as she pats your forearm. Your contraction is finally coming to an end and you’re able to comprehend more of what people are saying. “Now we just wait for the fluids to go in and the anesthesiologist will be here shortly. Almost over, my dear,” she says with a reassuring smile.

You could cry just from knowing that relief will soon be on the way.

 

**7:46 pm**

There is a louder, firmer knock on the door just before a man comes in the room wearing green scrubs and a surgical cap, shortly followed by nurse Paige. He’s carrying what looks like a small white box with him, which he hands over to Paige.

“Hello,” he says loudly, but friendly, crossing the room to shake your hand. “I’m Dr. James Simon, and I’m here to hopefully make you feel a little better; I’m going to be placing your epidural,” he finishes with a smile, turning to shake Josh’s hand next.

“Oh, thank god,” you say relieved, using your damp cloth to quickly wipe some of the sweat from your face, neck, and forehead. Paige has moved your overbed table to the right side of the bed and is unwrapping and preparing the white ‘box’, which is actually an epidural start kit.

“Yeah, he’s everyone’s favorite. I can’t think of too many people who are unhappy to see him when he walks into a patient room,” she teases as she starts arranging the tools and kit contents out for the doctor.

“There are a couple of things I need to go over with you before we get started,” Dr. Simon informs, handing you a clipboard with some information and a consent form on it. You nod your head, eager for the pain to just be over with already.  

He quickly, but thoroughly goes over the procedure, risks, and possible complications with you, explaining that even though it's rare, there is no guarantee the procedure will work. You agree and sign the form, willing to take any chances if it means relief.

“Okay,” he says as you hand back the clipboard and signed forms, “if Miss Paige is all set up, I think we’re ready to begin.”

Paige nods her head and trades places with Dr. Simon, walking around to the left side of your bed. She puts the side rails down and instructs you to turn to the side and sit with your legs dangling over the side of the bed. She lowers the head of your bed into a flat position before she presses the button that starts raising the entire bed up.

“You’re gonna feel like you’re way high up in the air, but it’s only so Dr. Simon can get a good look at your lower back and get the epidural placed in the right spot.”

“Correct,” he agrees. “And once we get started, it is very important that you sit very, very still for me, even during a contraction, okay? If the needle moves or hits the wrong nerves, all those bad things that we talked about a few minutes ago can happen. So just remember, sit as still as you can and it’ll most likely be the last contraction that you have to endure. Can you do that for me?”

You nod your head in agreement as Paige hands you a pillow and calls Josh over. She folds the pillow in half and places it in front of your belly, instructing you to hug it to your body before pulling Josh into position right in front of you.

“Ok, Kat, we need you to slump over and round your back as much as you can. Think of a mad cat or like a piece of boiled shrimp. Really bad posture, okay?” You nod your head in agreement.  “And Josh, you stand here in between her knees as close to her as you can, and she can then lean onto your shoulder to help her with positioning and to be still, but also not feel as if she’s about to go tumbling off the bed. You can place your hands on your shoulders or arms, just don’t touch the lower back area, okay?”

He steps forward and more into your space and wraps his arms around your shoulders, gently pulling you to him.  His scent and warm body are welcome traits that to help soothe your uneasy nerves. You feel the anesthesiologist start to push on your hips and press his fingers firmly up down your mid and lower spine, looking for the correct spot to place the epidural. You start to shake again, but this time it’s purely from nerves and anxiety.

“Josh,” you whine into his chest, your voice muffled by his sweater. “I’m nervous… and I’m kinda scared,” you admit, your voice small and shaky from the involuntary trembling your body is doing. He hugs you a bit tighter to his chest, kissing the top of your head.

“Don’t worry, babe; this is nothing you can’t handle. If you can make it through those contractions, this’ll be a walk in the park. You just sit still and let me handle all the worrying. You’ve got this,” he soothes as he rubs his hands up and down your arms.

You feel your belly suddenly start to tighten again, and you can’t help it as you groan and start to whimper, openly sobbing this time as another contraction comes on fast. You also feel something cold and wet being sponged across your back as Dr. Simon starts speaking again.

“I know it may not seem like it right now, but this contraction you’re having is actually perfectly timed. Right now I’m cleansing your back with a little bit of betadine, and then will come the parts that use needles, so you having your contraction now very possibly means you will not have to feel one while I’m placing the catheter. And that…” he stops speaking for a moment to place a sticky, paper guard over your back. It has a rectangular-shaped hole cut out that he places just over his work area, “... is a very good thing. Just think, this might be the last contraction you have to feel.”

That is music to your ears as you tightly grip the edges of the pillow and just try to power through the remainder of the contraction.

“Alright, I know you’re still having your contraction, but it looks like it has started to come down, so I’m going to go ahead and get started back here. We’re gonna try and avoid you having to feel another one if we can.”

You don’t say anything, just continue to whimper into Josh’s chest.

“This first needle you’re gonna feel just a little bit. Nothing big, it’s just a regular sized needle, but the medicine is gonna sting or pinch for a second, like a bee sting. It’s just a bit of Lidocaine to numb up the skin and surrounding area before we place the epidural, okay? Here we go,” he says just before you feel a tiny poke to your lower back.

It does sting a little, but nothing worse than any small shot or even papercut you’ve gotten before. You then feel him rubbing the area firmly with his knuckle, spreading the medication around.

“Feeling okay?” he checks. You nod your head in confirmation. “Good, you’re doing great.” He then picks up a 16 gauge, 8cm (3.14 in) needle that is used to place the epidural catheter.

Upon seeing that, Josh gets a wide-eyed, terrified look on his face, pulling the sides of his mouth down sucking air through his gritted teeth in a wince. Even though he has body piercings and knows that it is the same size as an eyebrow or nose piercing, this needle is going directly into your back which makes it exponentially worse.

He squeezes his eyes shut for a second before realizing that he is supposed to be the brave one right now, and immediately springs them back open. He glances over your shoulder and catches Paige looking at him. She mouths to him _“I won’t tell”_ , so he goes back to squeezing his eyes shut as the doctor lines up the needle.

“Ok, curl your back out as much as you can for me,” Dr. Simon instructs. You press your face more into Josh’s chest as you pull your shoulders forward, rounding your back as much as you can.

“You’re gonna feel a little pressure now,” he says as he pushes the needle in. You do feel some slight pressure at the beginning, but otherwise don’t feel anything. Behind you, the doctor is attaching a small syringe full of local anesthetic to the needle, which he then pushes through the needle into your back.

“We’re not quite done yet, but this should start to get you a bit more comfortable now. This will begin to numb the nerves in the area. It’s sort of our test dose to make sure we’re where we wanna be. You should start to feel a lot better once everything is in place.”

“Good,” you say pitifully, again just ready for it to be over.

“Okay, remember how I said your last contraction will be the last one you feel? Well, we’re about to test that out with the test dose that I just gave you. I just need you to tell me if you get a funny taste in your mouth or a ringing in your ears okay?”

“Okay,” you reply with a nod of your head. Josh opens his eyes, careful not to look down as he turns and places a quick kiss to the top of your head.

“See? You’re doing great,” he praises. “Almost over now.”

“Yes, you’re doing excellent,” Dr. Simon agrees. “Are you having any odd sensations, any funny taste or ringing in your ears?”

“No, huh-uh.”

“Perfect. And it looks like we’re starting another contraction here…”

“We are?” you ask, honestly shocked since you’re not feeling much of anything.

“Do you feel anything right now?” Dr. Simon questions.

“I mean, I feel a very slight tightening, but nothing even like from before we left the house to come here. No pain.” You open your eyes to glance up at the contraction monitor, and sure enough, you are in the middle of what looks to be a pretty intense contraction.

“Excellent. Perfect. That means we’re in business,” he says, reaching over to grab the small catheter. “And as the medicine starts taking effect, you’ll feel those small tightening contractions for about up to 15 more minutes, and each contraction you should feel less and less until you are totally numb.”

You take a deep breath in relief, letting your body fully relax and become heavy against Josh as the doctor starts threading the catheter into the needle. Josh rubs his fingertips slowly and softly up and down your arms, careful not to jostle you while the needle is still in.  
  
“See? I told you that you could do it. You did amazing,” he says, placing yet another kiss to the top of your head.

Now that you’re in more of your right mind, you are embarrassed and a bit ashamed that you had several breakdowns in front of him, Paige, and Dr. Simon.  

“I’m so sorry, you guys,” you say with a weak laugh. “I’m normally not such a big baby. I feel terrible now that I was such a big, blubbering mess.”

“Oh honie, that’s quite alright. You’re not the first woman, and you certainly won’t be the last to cry from pain during labor. And trust me, you’re not even close to the worst one we’ve had, I promise,” Paige says, reassuring you.

“Still, I’m so sorry,” you reaffirm. “I feel like such a wimp.”

“Stop that. You did great, babe. I’m so, so very proud of you,” Josh says, nuzzling his cheek against the top of your head.  

“Ok, we’re almost finished back here,” Dr. Simon informs as he pulls out the needle, leaving the catheter in your back. “And you are welcome to move around a bit now; the needle is out. We’re just going to get you taped up back here and you’ll be all set.”

You feel him pressing against your lower back where the catheter is, and then all over as he and Paige place Tegaderm type film over your back to ensure the epidural doesn’t move or come out with movement.

“Alright, all done! Let’s get you situated now,” Paige says, moving around to take Josh’s place. She takes the pillow and places it back at the top of your bed. She then lowers the bed back down to its normal, lowered position.

Dr. Simon comes around to your view as he prepares to leave the room. “I’m going to go ahead and congratulate you in advance,” he says, shaking both you and Josh’s hands.  

“Awwe, thank you. And thank you for the pain relief. You’re amazing,” you praise, sincerely thankful for the pain relief.

“Yes, thank you very much, doctor,” Josh adds, arguably just as equally as thankful that you’re no longer hurting.

“My pleasure. Congratulations again,” he says as he moves to exit the room.

“Go ahead and lie back for me,” Paige instructs. Josh helps ease you back as you lie down onto the currently flat bed as she then repositions your sensors and belts, and fixes your gown before putting on a new set of gloves. “Now that you’re nice and numbed up, I’m going to check your cervix again, see what kind of progress we’ve made.”

Just like last time she applies a generous amount of lube and starts her exam, but this time you feel nothing.

“Oh yeah. Definite progress. We are now 90% effaced and about 6-6.5 centimeters dilated. I can push you to a 7, but we’re gonna go ahead and call it a 6.5. Shouldn’t be long now.”

“Do you think I’ll have her before midnight, then?” you ask curiously as she removes her gloves, throwing them away before repositioning your bed and situating your blankets.

“Well, it’s hard to tell. Sometimes you’ll go super quick and then stall out for a while, but then other times it’s just go go go until it’s time to push; however, I would go ahead and bet it’ll be before midnight.” You smile widely and then look to Josh, who is also smiling excitedly.

“That means that if she’s born before midnight, she’ll be born on our pre-anniversary,” he says brightly.

“Oh my gosh, you’re right!! How neat!”

“That would be so awesome, you guys. What a cool memory to have,” Paige says enthusiastically. “When did the parents say they were going to be here?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> Do you know how many videos about epidurals I watched in order to write this chapter? I'll tell you, it was 2... too dang many!! I know that I've had 5, and soon to be 6 epidurals in my lifetime (only 68 more days until my due date!), but that doesn't make it any less scary to look at!
> 
> I'll tell you one thing, I've never seen the actual procedure until the past few days, and when you don't have to watch and are having it done, it is soooo not bad. I think seeing it makes it seem so much scarier than it actually is. In fact, outside of that initial numb shot, I've never felt a thing. All I have to say is, thank god for epidurals. 
> 
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Push! Push! Push!

“When did the parents say they were going to be here?” Paige asks curiously.

“They said that they’re having a bit of weather out in New York City right now and that the next flight out doesn’t leave until 11:30 their time, and that’s if it doesn’t get delayed. So, I’m guessing they’ll probably make it to the hospital around 2:30 or 3:00 am,” Josh tells her.

“Well, fingers crossed they make it in time, but if they don’t, I’m sure you guys will do a fine job in keeping her good and snuggled until they get here.”

“You got that right!” Josh says, nodding his head excitedly.

“Okay, so good news, since you're not having any complications the doctor has okayed some light foods for you while in labor, so I can get you some water, ice chips, clear soda, some soup, jello, crackers… anything sounding tempting?” Paige asks.

“Ice chips would be wonderful, but I’m not sure if I wanna eat anything right now…”

“You should have at least a little something if you can,” Josh interrupts, always concerned about your well-being. “Keep your energy up after all that contracting and for when it’s time to push.”

“Not gonna lie, he’s got a good point there,” Paige says, shooting Josh a wink. “How about this? I’ll bring you up some soup and some crackers, a cup of ice, and a can of sprite. That way you can nibble on what you can, and if you don’t want to finish it, you can always save it for later if you change your mind. I’m pretty sure it’s chicken noodle soup tonight, aaaand,” she says, drawing out the ‘a’ sound, “our floor has _the best_ ice. It’s the crunchy, little snowball/sno cone style like they have at Sonic.”

“Ooooh, that’s my favorite kind!” you say enthusiastically.

“Great. I’ll run and grab that and be back in a few, okay?” she says as she logs out of the computer with her badge and heads out the door.

Josh walks over to the edge of your bed, patting your leg in a loving matter as he sits. You giggle a little bit because if you weren’t watching him do it, you’d have no idea he was even touching you; you can’t feel a thing below your ribs. He rubs your thigh absent-mindedly as he watches another contraction spike up on the monitor.

“This is insane,” he mutters, pointing toward the monitors. “Here you are, having what look like huge, painful contractions, yet you’re sitting there, all calm and smiling.” He looks over at you with a huge, goofy grin on his face. He leans forward and places a longer, more lingering kiss to your lips.

“I’m so happy you’re feeling better,” he says, bringing his hand to cup the side of your face, his thumb stroking your cheekbone lovingly. “I’m not gonna lie, seeing you in that much pain was hard to watch,” he admits, dropping his head down and breaking eye contact.

“Well, I’m not gonna lie either; it really, _really_ hurt. But I couldn’t have gotten through it without you. You were great, Josh. You were everything I needed to keep me going, stable, and calm.”

He lifts his head and gives you a sheepish grin as he gets a text alert on his phone. That reminds you...

“Did you call or text everyone and let them know we are here?” you ask as he checks his phone, tapping out a quick reply.

“Yeah, I sent a text out. Everyone wishes you good luck and sends you their love, and of course, everyone demands pictures when we can. Although, I do have to tell you that Maddy _is_ quite jealous.”

“Oh, I’m sure she is!” you agree. “After all, she was due first. Plus, I’m sure she is just as uncomfortable as I was and ready to just meet her little one already,” you say, pulling your ponytail out and fixing your hair to be more presentable.

You take one final wipe of your face and neck with the wet cloth before patting the bed beside you.

“Come here. Let’s send them a selfie.”

 

**9:12 pm**

“Helloooo. How are we doing in here?” Dr. Hartz, the ob on call tonight, asks as he walks in the room, Paige following close behind.

“I’m doing alright. Much better now that I’ve had the epidural.”

“Excellent, that’s what I like to hear,” he says with a genuine smile, crossing the room to put on some gloves. “So, our plan for right now is to see what kind of progress you’ve made since you’ve had your epidural, and then get your water broken for you. With any luck we can keep chugging right along and have her here either by or just shortly after midnight. Sound alright?”

You nod in agreement as he readies himself at the foot of your bed. Josh stands to be by your side as Paige begins to lower the bed into a flat position, and up slightly so the doctor can work.

“Paige, do you mind grabbing her legs for me?” he asks kindly. You had completely forgotten that you aren’t currently able to move your legs.

“I’m just going to move your heels up and lay your legs apart, okay? You shouldn’t feel anything, but you tell me if this hurts, alright?” she instructs. Again, you nod in agreement and the doctor starts his exam.

“Oh yes, looks like we’ve made some great progress,” Dr. Hartz informs, mid-examination. “You are now 100% effaced and about 8.5, almost 9 centimeters. Once we get your water broken, it won’t be long at all,” he says as Paige hands him the amnio-hook. You giggle and turn to Josh, laughing, telling him how much it looks just like a crochet hook.

“Yeah, we hear that one a lot,” Dr. Hartz jokes, grinning as he makes a few more subtle movements before a very faint, popping sound is heard. You can’t feel a thing, but Paige and Dr. Hartz both comment on the amount of fluid, the fact that it’s clear and free of blood and meconium, and that all looks well. Paige removes the now soaking wet chux pad from under you and replaces it with a new, dry pad before resituating your legs and sitting you up, moving to the computer to chart the procedure when finished.

“Okay, all set,” Dr. Hartz says, crossing the room to wash his hands in the sink near the bathroom. “To be quite honest with you, I’m not planning on going too far. I don’t even plan on leaving this floor, in fact, I might just hang out at the nurse’s station for a bit. I don’t expect it to be very long at all before they’re calling me back in to come deliver.”

This gives you a sudden rush of butterflies, and you look up just in time to see Josh’s eyes widen slightly and some of the color drain from his face. He reaches into his back pocket, pulls a piece of gum out of a pack, and proceeds to start chomping away. He glances down, catching you watching him.

“What? I chew gum when I’m nervous or anxious. It helps calm my nerves.”  You and Paige both chuckle at him about how absolutely adorable he is.

 

**9:50 pm**

“Gosh, I don’t know what it is, but I keep getting this, almost like a burning sensation right here,” you say, touching your left lower belly, just above your pelvis.

“Do you think I should tell Paige? Oh god,” you say, your eyes now going wide with fear, “do you think my epidural is wearing off?” you ask, starting to panic slightly.

“Yeah, you should probably call her just in case. I’m sure the last thing you want is for the epidural to fall out or something just before you actually have her.”

You reach over and press the red call button, asking for Paige to be sent in when the receptionist answers your call light.

“Does it hurt? Does it feel like your contractions are coming back?” Josh asks concerned, worry written all over his face. You can tell he’s not ready to see you in that kind of pain again so quickly.

“No, not that kind of pain. It’s more like, like a pressure feeling, but it almost stings? I don’t know, I don’t know how to describe it really…”

“Helloooo? I heard you called,” Paige says, entering the room and crossing over to your bedside. You explain to her the sensations you’re feeling as she nods and slowly starts to smile bigger and bigger.

“...I don’t know. I’m just scared to death that my epidural is wearing off,” you admit.

“Oh honie, no need to worry about that. Epidurals are a continuous pump and actually can’t wear off. Maybe back in the old days, but not anymore,” she says as she stands and once again starts to lower your bed to a flat position.

“To be completely honest with you, it sounds to me like the baby is engaging into the pelvis and that’s the pressure and stinging you’re feeling… her head is pushing on your pelvic bones. I’m gonna check your cervix really quick, but I’m almost 100% sure you’re fully dilated and it’s time.” Josh stands and walks over to the bed, gripping the side rail like it’s a lifeline.

“Time? As in time to start pushing? Like, she’s going to come out now?” he asks, swallowing thickly and standing rigidly by your bed, staring intensely at Paige like she had the answers to all of life’s questions.

“Yep. And that’s exactly what it looks like,” she says, mid-exam. “You’re 100% and 10 centimeters. I’ll page the doctor real quick and we’ll get this show on the road.”

She raises the head of your bed back up and you are suddenly flooded with a rush of adrenaline. Josh, who suddenly has a habit of running his fingers through his hair, paces back and forth from the rocking chair to the side of your bed near your head.

“Josh?” you say slowly and calmly. He crosses over to you quickly, grasping your hand in his. It’s subtle, but you can feel that he is shaking slightly. “Hey. Hey, it’s okay, don’t worry,” you say soothingly. “This is the fun part. No need to worry. Just think, here in a little while we’re actually going to get to see what she looks like,” you say, smiling sweetly up at him.

“Now, I need you to do me a quick favor. Can you do that?” you ask, squeezing his hand in yours and looking into his eyes.

“Y-yeah. Yeah, I can help. What do you need?” he asks, his voice shaking a bit with nerves.

“Will you please send a text to the parents and let them know that it’s time to start pushing?” He nods and reaches for his back pocket. You give his other hand one final squeeze as a knock comes from the door.

“Heyyy. So, I heard we are ready to start pushing,” Dr. Hartz says as he enters your room, followed by Paige and two other nurses.

They immediately start opening cabinet doors across the room that you can clearly see now house the infant warmer, scale, and all other necessary equipment for the birth, along with diapers, bottles, and other things the baby will need after birth. Paige points what looks like a wand at the lights over your bed, and two round, very bright surgical lights come on and follow the positioning of the wand, which she points toward your pelvis. A shorter nurse with brown, curly hair is assisting the doctor in putting on his protective gown, gloves, and mask.

“See, I told you it wouldn’t be long,” Dr. Hartz says, leaning down to detach the lower half of your bed and getting his equipment ready. You giggle and nod as the brown-haired nurse, Renee from Nursery, comes over to help Paige lift your legs up into the stirrups.

“Josh, you are more than welcome to come down by me and watch, or you can stay up by her side, totally your choice,” Dr. Hartz says, offering a welcoming smile. Josh can’t really see it due to the mask being in the way, but can still tell judging by the crinkles near his eyes.

“I’ll, uhh… I’ll just… I’ll stay up here,” Josh stutters, clearly nervous and a bit overwhelmed.

The last nurse on the delivery team, Taren, informs Dr. Hartz that they are all set and ready. You notice that she has a digital camera in her hand.

“We thought that since the parents aren’t here yet that we’d take a few pictures of the birth for them if that’s okay with you,” she says, holding up the camera.

“No, that’s perfect. What a great idea. And how sweet of you all, thank you,” you say sincerely, appreciative that they would even think of that and would be willing to do something like that for you and your intended family.

“Alright, if everyone is ready, on this next contraction I want you to curl up, bear down, and push for me, okay?” Dr. Hartz announces, watching the contraction monitor. Everyone nods, turning to watch the monitor as well. It doesn’t take long.

“Ok, we’ve got a contraction starting so let’s do it. Deep breathe... Aaaand, PUSH!” Dr. Hartz instructs. You grab the side rails to help you as you put your chin to your chest and push with everything you’ve got. You hear the nurses counting down from 10 around you and you continue to bear down with all your might.

“Good. Good. Excellent pushes. Oh, this won’t take long at all. She’s coming right down,” you hear Dr. Hartz say as you continue to push.

When the nurses reach 1, you fall back and pant, out of breath.

“Excellent, excellent. You’re doing great. This contraction is still going, so let’s go one more, okay?” Dr. Hartz instructs again. You sit up, ready to take a deep breath, but before you do, you turn to Josh.

“Josh, would you mind pushing that pillow down to my lower back while I push? I think it’ll help me stay upright better,” you ask Josh, who just nods and places his hands on your pillow, ready to go.

“Okay, deep breath and here we go,” Dr. Hartz says as you start pushing again. This time the nurses only countdown to about 4.

“Okay, hold it right there, hold it right there. Breathe, and no pushing. Just relax a second,” Dr. Hartz instructs as he reached over for a bulb aspirator. You look over at Josh who smiles down at you in amazement. His eyebrows are slightly raised and he is just beaming. You hear suction noises before what is happening hits you.

“Oh my god, is she already out?” you ask, shocked, turning to look down at Dr. Hartz.

“Well, kind of. The head is out anyway. I’m just gonna clear her airways before we keep going here. One more push and she should be out. That went pretty quick, huh?” he asks, chuckling.

“Wow, it really did,” you agree, laughing, a bit giddy from all the rush of adrenaline and hormones.

“Oop, maybe not. She’s coming the rest of the way now it looks like. Go ahead and give me a small push.”

You take a breath and bear down for just a second or two before you feel what feels like her doing a complete somersault in your belly, followed by a slight popping sensation in your hips.

“Here she is, it’s a girl! Happy birthday, Sophie!” you hear Dr. Hartz say as he holds her up for just a second as Paige throws a blanket across your chest. He places her on directly onto your chest, face down. You pull your arms up, holding her butt and back as the nurses start to wipe her off with the blanket.  

“Josh, would you like to cut her cord?” Dr. Hartz asks, holding the umbilical scissors out to him. Josh glances up at the doctor, slowly standing up straight.

“I… I can?”

“Yeah, come on over here,” the doctor says as Josh takes the scissors. “Just in between these two clamps here,” he says, pointing them out to Josh. Josh cuts the cord and hands the scissors back to the doctor. “Good job. You did perfect. Congratulations,” the doctor praises.

Once the cord is cut, the nurses quickly take the baby over the warmer to clean her up a bit better, get her weight and measurements, and get her APGAR score. You hear the sound of a camera shutter going off over and over again.

Josh leans over you, bracing himself with the side rails as he brings his face close to yours, urgency clearly apparent in the intense way he looks down at you. You look up and into his deep, chocolate eyes, eyes that are freely leaking tears now. He leans down and places a kiss to your lips.

“Marry me,” he says simply.

“What? Josh, what do you mean?”

“I mean marry me, please.”

“But babe, we’re already engaged,” you say, still slightly confused.

“I know, I just… I really love you,” he says, leaning down to kiss you again.

“Here we go,” Renee says as she comes over and places baby Sophie in your arms. “Six pounds, six ounces, and 18 inches long. Born December 15th, 10:15 pm. Congratulations, guys.”

“Thank you,” you say, glancing down at Sophie to see her big, full cheeks and pouty lips. She’s just staring back up at you and Josh with her deep, blue eyes. Josh timidly reaches out and gently cups her head, his eyes already starting to well up again.

“Hi baby girl,” he whispers, tears freely falling down his cheeks now.

“Here,” you say, cradling her head and moving her around slightly in your arms and holding her out to him, “would you like to hold her?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all seriousness, I need to say thank you for your patience with me and this chapter. IDK how many of you visited my tumblr and saw what happened, but if you haven't, not only was I sick this past week, but also my cat got hit by a car. He spent several days at an intensive care animal hospital, unsure if he was even going to make it. He was showing signs of brain damage and neuro trauma (paralyzation). The good news is, I am getting better and he actually gets to come home today!! He's gonna take a lot of care, but I just wanted you all to know that I wasn't slacking off or ignoring you or the fic, I just had some emergencies come up that required a lot of attention. 
> 
> Again, thank you all for waiting so patiently and so kindly. *hugs you all*
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate, currently pregnant with my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New month, new week, new year... NEW CHAPTER! Happy New Year my lovies!!

“Would you like to hold her?” you say softly, looking into his surprised yet wishful eyes, lifting her up and into his arms. He immediately reaches out to cradle her, her tiny head in the crook of his arm. He lifts his right hand and ever so gently strokes her capped head as he subconsciously begins to bounce and slightly sway back and forth.   
  
“Well hello there, Sophie. It’s me, Josh,” he murmurs to her quietly. She turns her head towards him slightly, recognizing the sound of his voice. “It’s nice to finally meet you, sweet baby girl.” He lifts her up, leaning his head down to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head.     
  
He continues to snuggle and coo at her, gently rocking her slowly back and forth. Your heart bursts at the sight as you watch him fall effortlessly into a protective, fatherly role. He is smiling so big and looks so happy. You never want to forget this moment as an idea suddenly comes to you.   
  
You quickly reach for your phone that sits atop the patient table, and snap a quick photo of him snuggling Sophie. It may not technically be the first photo that everyone asked for, but you send it out anyway; it’s just too adorable not to.   
  
Paige comes over and presses a few buttons on your epidural pump, turning it off.   
  
“Alright my dear, real quick before we remove the epidural catheter, let's get your baby band on,” she says, holding out a band that matches the baby’s ankle bracelet with names and matching ID numbers. You hold out your arm and she quickly attaches it, pressing the metal clasp closed.   
  
“Ok, lean forward for me and I’ll get the catheter out of your back.” You sit up and lean over, allowing her access to your back. “Now, before I pull out the catheter, I’m going to remove the Tegaderm film first, which, unfortunately, you’re gonna feel. Just think of it as a free back wax,” she teases, giggling a bit.   
  
“Oh god. I don’t know if I want you to go slow or to just do it like a band-aid,” you say, conflicted.   
  
“In my experience, it’s best if we go quick, so here we go… 1… 2…” and the next thing that fills the rooms is a quick peeling sound, followed by a sharp intake of breath and a high-pitched yelp from you as you sit up rod-straight, arching your back and trying to move away from the pain.   
  
Josh glances up at you to make sure you’re alright before returning his attention back to Sophie. Your heart warms again as you watch him explore the features of her face, running his finger along the bridge of her nose and pulling down slightly at her chin so that her bottom lip sticks out in a pout.   
  
You continue to smile at the two of them, watching as Sophie just stares up at Josh while Paige loosens the smaller tegaderm patch from around the catheter.   
  
“Ok, I’m gonna pull the catheter out now; 1, 2, 3,” she counts quickly before giving a quick tug to the catheter. It slips out effortlessly and painlessly, and she swiftly covers the spot with a band-aid.   
  
“Alright, all finished. We’ll give you about an hour to an hour and a half for you to get the feeling back in your belly and your legs, then we’ll move you over to mother/baby, the recovery side of the floor. Until then, please don’t try to walk or stand, okay?” she instructs, walking over to the bassinet and wheeling it over.   
  
“When you’re not snuggling or caring for the baby,” she continues, smiling over at Josh, “please keep her in this bassinet, on her back. We have little drawers and compartments for all her stuff down here,” she says, leaning down and opening the cabinets and drawers underneath the bed part to show you supplies for her that are ready to use. There are diapers, wipes, pre-made individual use bottles of formula, individual use nipples, binkies, a couple blankets, burp cloths, and a couple of spare onesies.   
  
“So, is there anything else that you need before I head out and let you relax with baby for a bit?”   
  
“Actually, if you wouldn’t mind, would you take a picture of all of us together?” you ask, picking up your phone to turn on your camera app.   
  
“Of course! Josh, come on over,” she says, taking the phone and waving Josh over. He takes his time, standing slowly and carefully, being extra delicate with Sophie in his arms. You scoot over as best you can with your legs still numb. He hands the baby over to you and, still moving gently, sits on the bed next to you.   
  
He shuffles around a bit trying to wiggle an arm behind you, but it gets slightly caught between your gown and the lump of pillows wedged behind you. You look over at Josh and the both of you can’t help but to smile at each other and laugh out loud at the silliness. Leaning forward, Josh presses his forehead to yours as you both continue to giggle before slowly tilting his chin for a soft kiss.   
  
Sophie starts to fuss, and with his other arm, Josh reaches across his body and places his arm under yours, helping to hold her up as you begin to lightly bounce her in your arms.   
  
“Hey… hey… shh. It’s okay, baby girl,” he soothes in a low, calm voice. He leans down and gives her head a gentle kiss. She quiets at the sound of his voice, staring up at him while the two of you pose for the picture.   
  
Little did you know Paige had been taking pictures the whole time. She captured you and Josh smiling and laughing at each other with baby Sophie in your arms, your forehead touch, your shared kiss, and Josh’s kiss to Sophie before taking the final, regular photo. She doesn't mention her secret shots, just leaves them on your phone as a surprise for you to find later.   
  
\-----   
  
It’s 4:30 am when you are awoken from sleep by Sophie’s quiet fussing. You wince as you open your eyes and slowly roll over, carefully starting to sit up, only to discover that Josh is already at her bassinet, lifting her out.   
  
“I got her, babe. Go ahead and lay back down. Rest your belly,” he murmurs softly.   
  
Not too long after you sent pictures off to the parents after her birth, they texted back to say that their flight had in fact been delayed for weather and they would instead be landing around 10:30 in the morning. You reassured them that you would keep the baby with you and told them to take their time. All was well with you and the baby, and you didn’t want them to worry about unnecessary things, just to relax and arrive safely.   
  
Once you were in your recovery room and both the post-birth adrenaline had worn off and pain pills started to kick in, it didn’t take long for you and Josh doze off, both exhausted from the full day’s events.     
  
Readjusting the heating pad over your lower belly, you watch fondly as Josh sits with Sophie in the glider chair, trying to soothe her little whimpers and soft cries.   
  
“Shh… shhh… what’s a matter, baby girl? Hmmm? What’s a matter?” he says softly, patting her butt and trying to soothe her. “I got you. Joshie’s got you.”   
  
He chuckles down at her before glancing up at you. “I think she’s hungry. She keeps turning her head back and forth and sucking on her fist.”   
  
“Oh yeah, she’s rooting. When they turn their head side to side with their mouth open like that, it means they're looking for a nipple. Here, I’ll fix you a bottle,” you finish, turning to gather the items from her bassinet storage.   
  
“Yeah? You sure I should feed her?”   
  
“Sure, why not? You’re great with her, and she likes you,” you say, removing the cap and then twisting the nipple onto the bottle. You place your finger on the tip and give it a couple of quick shakes before holding it out to Josh.   
  
Careful to support her head, he cradles her tight to his chest and stands, moving to sit on the end of your bed. You hand him the bottle and a burp cloth as he gets comfortable and resituates her in his arms.   
  
“Okay, what you do is place the cloth under her chin,” you instruct, watching as Josh follows your direction. “Good. Now, just take the bottle and lightly run it along her cheek and lips.” He does so and she immediately opens her mouth, turning towards the bottle and taking it in.   
  
“Oh my gosh! That's so cool!” he says quietly but with hushed excitement. “It’s crazy that they're born knowing to do that.”   
  
Sophie starts to suck on the bottle, making cute yummy noises as she swallows.   
  
“I know, it’s neat, isn’t it? Okay, don’t let her take too much. Her stomach is only about the size of a marble right now. We only want her to take about 20 milliliters total, so count to 10 and then pull the bottle out and check how much she’s had.”   
  
He counts to 10 and tries to pull the bottle, but she has a good latch on it. “She won’t let go.”   
  
“You just gotta twist the bottle a bit as you pull. Helps break the suction.” He does and the bottle comes right out.   
  
“Wow! She’s already taken 10 milliliters that quick!” he says, holding the bottle up to check the gauge.   
  
“Yeah, if they get a good latch, they can really go to town pretty quick,” you say with a nod. “Okay, go ahead and give her the last little bit, and then we’ll burp her.”   
  
He repeats his actions from before, and it goes perfectly. She latches right away, he counts to 10 and then twists to remove the bottle, just like you instructed.   
  
“Wow, you did that like a pro. Good job, Josh; you’re a natural!” you praise, noting his blush and sheepish smile as his tongue pokes thru his teeth just the slightest bit. “Did she take her last 10?”   
  
“Yeah, wow, she’s up to 20 milliliters already,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. “She’s a champ.”   
  
“Alright, let’s get her burped then. Now, there’s a couple of different ways to do this, but the easiest way when they’re this little, for me anyway, is to sit her up on your leg, cradle her face so that her cheek is in your palm with her face turned out, and then pat her back. Oh, and you’ll want to place the burp cloth between your palm and her cheek, just in case.”   
  
He blots her chin with the cloth before moving her carefully to his thigh. He does as you instructed, making sure her face is turned outward before very softly patting her back.     
  
“I know it seems weird, but you need to actually pat a bit firmer than that. It feels like it’s too rough, but I promise you, it’s not.”   
  
He nods and pats with a bit firmer pressure. It’s still a bit light in your opinion, but good enough to get the job done. It only takes four more good pats for her to burp for him.   
  
“Heyyy, there ya go! Good job, Josh!”   
  
“Thanks,” he says with a proud smile as he rubs her back where he was just patting.   
  
“Oh my goodness, look at her,” you say, pointing down at Sophie. “She’s already dozed off. Must be the milk coma,” you add, giggling. “Actually, hang on; don’t move.” You lift her head just high enough off to remove the burp cloth and place her cheek back in his palm. You quickly reach for your phone and snap a close up of her sleeping face cradled in his hand.   
  
“Oh my gosh. Thaaat’s a keeper,” you say, giving it a soft filter before sending it off to everyone via text.   
  
“You’re a keeper,” he says, reaching out to grasp your fingers and bringing your hand to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of your hand. “Today you’ve done one of the most amazing, extraordinary things I’ve ever seen or experienced. You’ve sacrificed so much to get this little angel here, and I am forever in awe of you,” he finishes, now rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.   
  
“Thank you, Josh. Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without you.”   
  
Cradling Sophie in his arms and standing back up, he places a quick kiss to your head before moving back to the glider.   
  
“Don’t you wanna put her back in the bassinet so you can get some more sleep?” you ask, scooting down in bed and pulling the covers back over your legs.   
  
“No, you go ahead and get some rest. I want to hold her for a bit longer, while I can,” he says, staring loving down at Sophie. You watch him rock with her and rub his fingers along her forehead for as long as you can, but soon enough your eyelids just won’t stay open.   
  
It’s quiet for a while, just the faint sound of the glider chair rocking back and forth filling the air. Just as you’re about to surrender and drop off to sleep, you hear Josh speaking to Sophie.   
  
“I think you’re a keeper, too,” he whispers, gently kissing the top of her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My surro baby was born December 12th and is the most precious thing! She got to be home for christmas with her mommy, daddy, and big sister.
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate and recently gave birth to my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	19. Chapter 19

December 25th finds you digging through a large box in your new home, voice echoing throughout the sizable entrance room as you call out for Josh.

The days following Sophie’s birth were a whirlwind as several events happened in rapid succession. After an in-hospital visit from the lawyers to finalize paperwork, you were released the day after she was born. Baby Sophie was able to be released the following day, and thanks to an amazing judge who was willing to squeeze your case in last minute, the court hearing to establish parentage and finalize the birth certificate was held the day following Sophie’s release.

After a final congratulatory lunch with the parents, several pictures, and a few emotional, yet thankful goodbyes, the new family was on their way to the airport to fly home for the holidays with their newborn baby. Watching them in all their excitement gave you the itch to be in your new house and near your soon-to-be family for Christmas as well.

Since you were recovering well with only minimal bleeding or pain, Josh, as an early gift to you, arranged for the move to take place a few days before Christmas. As it would turn out, his timing couldn’t have been more perfect as Baby Ellie was born the exact same day that you and Josh arrived back in Columbus. The wheels of your airplane had barely touched the ground before both of your phones started lighting up with notifications of the news that Maddy had gone into labor.

Needless to say, most of your time since being back had been spent with Tyler’s family and up at the hospital, so not a whole lot of unpacking had been done yet.

“Josh?” you call a little louder this time, shouting up the stairs towards the bedrooms where he had been unpacking boxes labeled ‘bedroom’ and ‘closet’. When he doesn’t answer for the second time, you ascend the stairs to find him sitting cross-legged on the bed, back towards the door and curled over his phone.

“Hey Josh! Do you remember which box had my... Josh? Josh, sweetie, what’s the matter?” Startled, he takes in a sharp breath, sniffs and sits up straight, quickly wiping away a tear with the back of his hand. Clearing his throat, he tries to hide the fact that he was crying but it’s too late, you’ve already seen the evidence.  

You walk slowly to the bed and gently place your hand on his back. “Josh, babe, talk to me. What’s wrong?” you ask again, softly.

“N… nothing. I mean, I’m just being…” he stops mid-sentence, sighing heavily and rolling his eyes up to the ceiling for a second. “I’m being dumb. I know it’s silly, but I just… I just miss her. You know?”

He lets his hands fall limply to his folded legs and you can clearly see that he was looking at pictures of him and Baby Sophie in the hospital, along with the hospital band held loosely in his hand.

“I was unpacking our clothes when I came across this in one of your boxes,” he says, holding up the hospital band, “so then I started looking through our hospital pics, and now—” he can’t help it as another tear wells up and falls down his cheek.

He turns himself around and pulls you closer to him by your hips, laying his cheek against your now empty, squishy tummy. His shoulders start to shake as he grips you tighter, silently weeping onto your shirt.

“I didn’t know it would be this hard... hurt this bad,” he says, his voice climbing a few octaves higher as another sob overtakes him.

“Hey. Hey. It’s okay,” you soothe, running your fingers through his dark, curly hair. “It’s alright to miss her. I miss her too. I think about her every day.”

“I kn… know, but,” he starts, sniffing as he lets you go and wipes away his tears, “I tried not to get too attached because I knew she was going to go away, so why do I still feel so empty?” he asks, scooting over as you climb up onto the bed next to him.

“Josh, you and Sophie will always have a very special bond,” you say, reaching over to lace your fingers with his, pulling his hand into your lap. You gently stroke the back of his hand with your nails before continuing. “You were there when she came into this world. In fact, you were the one to cut her cord which means you were a very important part of her birth,” you say, reaching up to run your hand through his hair and down along his jaw.

He glances up at you with his big, sad eyes and you feel your heart squeeze. You knew this part was going to be difficult for him. He feels everything so deeply and so intensely, and you can see just by looking at him just how much he’s hurting.

You grip his hand a bit tighter and let your thumb stroke over his as you continue, “You took care of her when I was in too much pain to do so. Not only that but when her parents finally arrived at the hospital, you were the one that got to physically place her into her mommy’s arms. That alone is an extraordinary thing. You helped make their family complete.”  

He smiles weakly and tilts his head, laying his temple on your shoulder. You both sit in silence for a few moments as he digests what you said.

“Yeah, that was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“Definitely cool, and very special,” you say, laying your head on top of his. “Plus, they said that they’ll send lots of pictures and that we are welcome to come visit any time that we’re in New York.”

He unlaces your fingers, reaching around your back to pull you closer to him in a side hug. He nuzzles into your neck, breathing you in and squeezing you tight. “Thank you. Thank you for letting me get that out. I still miss her a ton, but I feel better,” he says, sitting back and wiping his cheeks one last time.

“You’re welcome. And besides, I thought _I_ was supposed to be the emotional, hormonal one,” you tease, bumping your shoulder into his and giving him a warm smile.

“Maybe I’m having sympathy emotions.”

“Maybe so,” you say, chuckling. “Oh lord, can you imagine both of us being on emotional roller coasters? Our house would be a constant sob fest,” you say giggling, leaning over to place a quick kiss to the tip of his nose. He grins and pulls you close, hugging you tightly.

“I love you, so much.”

“I love you too, Josh,” you say, squeezing a bit harder before letting go. “Now, I know we’re not due to be at Maddy’s for dinner for another couple of hours,” you add, glancing down to your wrist to confirm the time, “but maybe I can text Maddy to see if it’d be alright if we head over a little early. I’m sure she’d appreciate the help in the kitchen, and it’d squeeze you in some extra cuddle time with Ellie. How’s that sound?”

The bed suddenly dips and then bounces wildly several times as he leaps off the bed in search of his shoes. Shaking your head and grinning to yourself at his enthusiasm, you take out your phone and send a quick text off to Maddy. You’ve barely had time to stand up before he’s already returned, shoes and hat on, keys jingling in his hand.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he says excitedly. “Let’s go! Baby time!”

*****

“Come on in!” Maddy answers, shouting toward the front door after you ring the doorbell.

“Maddyyy!” you exclaim as you enter the kitchen from the foyer. “How are you feeling? You look great!” you say, pulling her into a quick hug.

“Thanks! So do you,” she replies, stepping back and gesturing up and down from your belly to your head. “I’m still a bit crampy, but otherwise I’m good. I’m just glad the doctor let us go home for Christmas,” she says, smiling as she places a pumpkin pie in the oven.

“Yeah, that was nice of him. Are you sure this isn’t too much for you though? Jenna said that it wouldn’t be a problem to have Christmas dinner over at her and Ty’s place this year.”

“Nah, it doesn't bother me; I enjoy it. Jenna’s already got a lot of the more intensive dishes cooked and will just be bringing them here to heat up. Besides, it’s actually easier for us to have dinner here since all of Ellie’s baby stuff is here. We won’t have to haul a bunch of supplies around with us, and if I need to, I can always go lay down or whatever in my own bed.”

“Touché.”

“Look who I found,” Josh says in a singsong voice as he walks into the kitchen with Baby Ellie snuggled tightly in his arms. He’s got her bundled in a red and white, plush minky blanket that matches her red Christmas outfit; a ‘welcome to the family’ gift from her Uncle Zach and Aunt Tatum at the hospital.  

“Hi, Maddy. How are you feeling?” he asks, giving her a one-armed hug and quick kiss to the temple.

“Hey, Josh. And hi baby girl,” she adds, stroking a finger down her daughter’s cheek. “I feel good. Happy to be home. How are you holding up?”

“It's…” he starts, turning his hand back and forth in a ‘sort of’ motion, “it’s harder than I expected, but I’m alright. Better now; isn’t that right, Ellie?” he says, lifting his arms up to give her a kiss on her red and white striped stocking cap. She curls inward in her sleep slightly, sucking gently on her binky.

“Hi sweet baby,” you coo, gently rubbing your fingers over her forehead. “Gosh, she is just so precious, Maddy! How’s she been for you?”

“She’s been just a perfect little angel. She only cries if she’s hungry or dirty, and even then it’s only a small little meep. Couldn’t ask for a better baby,” she praises, smiling toward her daughter.  “We’ll see how she does on her first night home, though.”

“I’m sure she’ll do great,” Josh says, swaying back and forth and patting her butt.

“So, how’s the move going? Getting everything unpacked okay?”

“Meh, it’s going alright,” you sigh. “We’re getting there, slowly but surely. Gradually unburying ourselves from underneath all the boxes.”

“Happy to be back in Columbus though, I’ll tell you that,” Josh inserts. “It just feels... it just feels like home, you know?” he says, smiling widely over at you. “I’ve definitely missed this place.”

“Well I’ll tell you one thing,” she says, raising her eyebrows at Josh, “you moving back to Columbus is probably one of the best gifts you could’ve given Ty. I mean, we’ve all missed you, Josh, but he’s like a kid on Christmas morning.”

“Pfft, who are we kidding,” you chuckle, “he _IS_ a kid on Christmas!” you say as you and Maddy erupt into a fit of giggles.

“Touché!” she laughs, the oven timer dinging behind her.

*****

As expected, Baby Ellie was passed from person to person throughout the night, but no one, by far, got more snuggle time than Josh. He was always the first one to soothe her if she made any noise, and he even volunteered to change a dirty diaper after she finished a bottle.

“Joshua Dun, you better hand over that baby, mister. You can’t hog her all night,” Jenna teases, standing with her hands on her hips in front of the rocking chair where Josh sits.

“Alright, alright. I guess,” he sighs, “but only if I can have another one of your cinnamon rolls. Those things are addicting as frick,” he declares, standing and handing the baby to Jenna. She takes his spot in the rocker as he turns to where you sit on the couch. “Do you want anything while I’m in there?”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll take another cup of cider, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” he says as he takes your hand and lifts it to his lips, kissing your knuckles and then your engagement ring. “Be right back.” He winks and smiles down at you warmly before turning towards the kitchen, stopping to chat with Tyler and Zach at the table.

“So, how long is he gonna let you wait before you try for one of your own?” Jenna murmurs after he is far enough away to not overhear.

“Well, we’ve talked a bit about it since Sophie was born and I said that preferably I would like to wait until after the wedding, but if it happens, it happens. Neither of us would be too upset,” you admit coyly, smiling down at your lap.

“Ideally,” you continue, “you need about six months to let your body fully recover after a birth, but by that time it’ll be June/July-ish, and we’ll be halfway to the wedding. With all the dress fittings and alterations and all that, it would make things more difficult. Not impossible, just more…” you say, rolling your wrist in front of you, “challenging.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” she says, moving the baby up to her shoulder to pat her back. “I think that’s a great plan.”

“Besides, I think a better question is, when are you and Tyler going to try for a baby?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate and recently gave birth to my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if you were spammed with emails about this chapter. Ao3 was having technical difficulties.

_ “DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU SAAAYYY-EY-EY, YEA-EH-AH,” _  Maddy belts out as she drives down 3rd street, the bright June sun catching on her bedazzled shirt and reflecting around the car like glitter.  

_ “Ain’t nothing but a mistake-” _  you and Jenna sing, harmonizing the chorus behind her.

_ “Don’t wanna hear you-” _  Maddy continues.

_ “I never want to hear you say-” _  you and Jenna join.

_ “I want it that way,” _  you all sing together, each of you turning to face each other and the middle of the car, holding your takeout cups up to you mouths like microphones.

The three of you had just finished lunch and now the warm, summer air blows your hair around wildly as you ride passenger on your way to La Jeune Mariee for your first dress fittings.

Earlier in the spring while she was in town for a visit to see your new house, you and your mother had gone together to the bridal boutique. You had planned to just drop off the measurements for the bridesmaids’ dresses you were having ordered, but completely fell in love with one of the dresses they had featured on display. Once you tried it on, with both you and your mother in tears, you were completely convinced that this was, absolutely, the dress you were going to be wearing when you became Mrs. Joshua Dun. You bought the dress on the spot.

_ “Tell me whyyyy,” _  you hold, raising your soda to your mouth again and reaching your hand out dramatically.

_“Ain't nothin' but a mistake. Tell me why-”_  Maddy continues.

_ “I never wanna-”  _ Jenna picks up with Maddy singing over top of her.

_ “Never wanna hear you say-” _

_ “I want it that way,” _  all of you sing together.

_ “'Cause I want it that way,” _  you finish dramatically, extending your arm out and brushing the back of your fingers down Maddy’s cheek before the three of you erupt into a fit of giggles, drowning out the radio DJ’s voice as he announces the song’s title.

“So, are you gonna let us peek at your dress? You know we’re just dying to see it!” Jenna begs from the back seat.

Raising your drink up to your lips, you smirk around the straw and glance back at Jenna in the visor mirror as feel your phone vibrate with a text alert. You send a quick wink to Jenna, grinning fully at her before fishing your phone out of the pocket of your denim shorts.

 

Incoming from Feyoncé:

Hey beautiful! Just wanted to say hope everything is going well with the dresses. Tyler and I are KILLING this rehearsal today. Might even be able to do our first rough run thru!!

 

  
Attached is a picture of him and Tyler on stage. You can see all the wiring and mic stands in the background, along with what looks like Shap, their lighting director, holding a clipboard and pointing at something towards the back of the stage. Josh is in the forefront, dripping with sweat, his curly brown hair stuck to his forehead while Tyler stands behind him, equally as sweaty with his eyes squeezed shut, holding a mic in one hand and flashing a peace sign with the other. Both have their earpieces dangling loosely on their shoulders and big, cheesy smiles on their faces.

  
Incoming from Feyoncé:

Tell the girls hello!

 

  
Having just arrived at the boutique, you and the girls snap a quick picture in the parking lot to send to the boys before heading in. Maddy and Jenna are each leaning on your shoulder with one hand and have a leg kicked up behind them. All of you are flashing a peace sign back to Josh and Tyler with silly kissy faces.

“Can we take another? I wanna post it on my Instagram,” Jenna says, handing you her phone. You all resume your previous pose and snap the picture, laughing and giggling at yourselves as she captions the picture ‘Dress fitting for the future sis-in-law’.

Maddy opens the trunk of the car, and you each grab your bag of necessities for the fitting before making your way to the front of the quaint boutique. A flourishing chime sounds as you open the door and enter the shop.

“Good afternoon ladies, welcome to La Jeune’s. How can we assist you today?” the lady behind the counter greets. She’s dressed in a black and white, polka dotted, rockabilly style dress and has her black, curly hair pulled up in a twist. A red bandanna is tied around her head like a headband, the ends poking up off to one side like a bow. She smiles up at you with her bright red lipstick as the door closes behind you.

“Hi,” you answer shyly, approaching the counter.  “We have a dress fitting appointment for the Dun wedding.”

“Perfect,” she says, turning to her computer and quickly typing in a few things. “Okay, let’s see here, Dun… Dun… Dun… oh! Here it is. Wedding date of December 15th?”

You nod your head with a quick, “Mmm hmm.”

“Excellent. Well, my name is Suzie and I’ll be your consultant this afternoon. If you lovely ladies will follow me, we’ll get you over to the dressing rooms and get started.”

You all follow as she leads you through the store’s front, past racks of beautiful wedding dresses of all silhouettes and designs, and into a lavishly decorated room off to the side. The walls are a soft pink with white trim, and a dazzling, sparkling chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the center of the room. There are smaller, curtained dressing rooms off to each side, but the feature of the room is the elevated platform at the back center that stands in front of a white, hinged, tri-fold mirror. Gorgeous, white tufted chairs sit off to each side, and the wood floors and warm lighting make it look so soft and delicate, making you feel very elegant.

You’re not sure why, be it excitement or nervousness, or even perhaps a bit of both, but your stomach suddenly erupts into a tidal wave of butterflies. This is all becoming so real. It’s one thing to plan it out on paper, but to see the ideas start to form and come together in real life is quite another.

‘This is really happening. I am really getting married. I am going to marry Josh Dun. Oh my gosh, this is all for my wedding. Holy crap, this is all for MY wedding!’

“Miss?” Suzie asks again, snapping you out of your internal freakout.

“Sorry, I was… lost in my own thoughts there for a second. You were saying?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not the only bride who’s gotten a little overwhelmed at their first fitting. For a lot of brides, this is when things start to get very real and it can be overwhelming and quite emotional,” she says, saying almost exactly what you had just been thinking.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited. I just… I can’t believe this is actually real, that this is actually happening.”

“You are definitely one lucky bride,” she says with a genuine smile.  “Now, which dress would you like to see first, the bridesmaid’s dress or the Matron of Honor’s dress?”

You think for a moment before coming to a decision, “Umm, the matron of honor, I think. But I’d actually like to see them both together, if that’s okay?”

“Absolutely,” she says, turning to Maddy and Jenna.  “If you girls wanna go ahead and step into the dressing rooms and start changing into your chosen undergarments and shoes, I will go and fetch the dresses,” she finished, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.  “Be right back.”

“Eeek, I’m so excited!” Jenna squeals, slinging her oversized yellow bag over her shoulder.

“I know, I can’t wait to see what they look like on,” Maddy adds.

“And I can’t wait to see what we all look like together,” you finish.  

“So does that mean you’re gonna let us steal a glance of your dress then?”

“Yeaaaah,” you say breathily, drawing the word out.  “I wanna get a glimpse of what it’s all gonna look like on the big day.”

“Yay!” Jenna says, clapping her hands together as she skips into her dressing room, pulling the white, flowing curtain closed with an excited smile.

“Alright ladies, here we are,” Suzie says, stepping back into the room and sliding the curtain closed behind her, resituating the garment bags over her arm. “Where is our Matron of Honor?”

“Over here,” Maddy answers from the dressing room on the left side of the room.

“Here you are, my dear,” she says, passing the garment bag through a small opening between the curtain and the wall. “And that must leave our bridesmaid over here, correct?”

“That’s me,” Jenna confirms, reaching her arm out from behind the curtain for the garment bag.

“Oh my gosh, Kat, it’s beautiful!” you hear Maddy exclaim from behind the curtain before you hear a quiet zipping sound. “It’s so pretty and sparkly!”

“Yeah?” you answer. “Do you like it?”

“Oh my gosh, I LOVE it! It’s gorgeous!” Maddy continues to gush.

“How does it fit?” you question, eager to know more.

“It fits great! Near perfect. The length might need to be taken up a little bit, but we’ll see once I get my heels on.”

“How about you, Jenna? How’s yours looking?”

“Same, actually. The fit is perfect, and I’m loving this long slit up the side.”  

“Well, we gotta show off those long, pretty legs of yours, right?” you tease, giggling slightly.  

“Yeah, I’m sure my brother won’t mind,” Maddy adds, giggling and teasing Jenna further.

Zippers and rustling of fabric can be heard as the girls give final adjustments their gowns. When you start to hear the sound of heels clacking against the wood floor, you know they must be about fully dressed.

“Are you girls ready to come out now?” Suzie asks sweetly.

“Just a sec’. Let me finish getting my other shoe strapped on a bit tighter really quick,” Jenna says, drawing out the last word. “Okay! Ready!”

“And is our bride ready?” Suzie asks quietly, turning to you with a happy smile to confirm. You shake your head excitedly and turn back towards the dressing rooms. “Alright girls, open your curtains on the count of three. Ready?”

“Ready!”

“Ready!” you hear each of them excitedly reply in turn, watching their dressing room curtains move slightly as they each grasp an edge of the curtain.

“Here we go in three… two… ONE!”

Suddenly the curtains are shoved to opposite sides as the sound of excited squealing fills the air. All of you are shrieking excitedly, jumping, and clapping until you reach each other in the middle of the room where you grasp hands and continue to laugh and giggle excitedly. The reaction may be a bit childish, but you couldn’t care less right now. You are just too thrilled to worry about having a conserved, mature response.

“So, do you like them?” Suzie asks, again clasping her hands in front of her chest.

“Oh my gosh, I love them! And they look so good together. Here, stand side by side so I can get a good look at them,” you instruct as Maddy and Jenna move to stand next to each other.

Both dresses are floor length and a rich burgundy color. Maddy, being the Matron of Honor, has a metallic sequin dress with a wide V-neckline, crisscross ruching on the bodice, and cap sleeves.

Jenna’s dress is matte with a slight V-neckline. It ruches at the waist, has shoestring shoulder straps, and features a long slit that stretches from the floor to her upper thigh.

“Oooh,” you say in a high-pitched voice, raising your hands to your face to cup your mouth and nose. “Turn around and look at yourselves, guys. It’s beautiful,” you say, moving your hand to point to the mirror behind them. They both turn and mimic the sounds you just made.

“They’re so dazzling and elegant,” Jenna says, moving to swish the bottom of her dress back and forth.

“Yes, just beautiful,” Maddy adds. “Excellent choice, Kat.”

“Ready for the icing on the cake?” Suzie asks, holding the garment bag containing your dress out to you. You take a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment as you exhale. You nod and take the dress from her, turning to go into one of the dressing rooms.

“Let me know if you need any help, and I’ll be right there,” Suzie says as she pulls the curtains closed.

You hang the dress up on the highest hook, unzipping and removing the garment bag from around the gown. The bottom drops down and in its full length, almost touches the floor. You stand for just a second, taking in and admiring the beauty of your dress. It is truly stunning, even just on the hanger.  

Running your fingers lightly over the delicate chiffon, you stop as you come to the intricate, beaded snowflake design on the hip, an idea suddenly coming to you. You pull your phone out of your pocket, you take an extreme close up of just the beadwork on the hip and send it in a text to Josh.

 

Outgoing:

Just a quick peek ;-)

  
You have barely had time to set your phone down on one of the white, tufted benches before your phone chimes with a text alert.

 

Incoming from Feyoncé:

NO FAIR!

 

Incoming from Feyoncé:

This just makes me even MORE impatient to marry you!

 

  
Incoming from Feyoncé:

Is it December yet?!

 

  
Laughing to yourself at his triple text, you send back a kissy face emoji before tossing your phone back onto the bench. You quickly remove your everyday clothes, placing them into your backpack before changing into the bra, panty, and hosiery set you had purchased for your wedding day. Jenna and Maddy had both expressed how important it was to bring the actual undergarments you planned to wear to the dress fittings so that you will know exactly how the dress will fit with them on and how it will lay on your body, allowing for the proper adjustments to be made.  

Your white, satin shoes clack against the floor as you step into your dress, shimmying it up your body before you slip the tapered, beaded straps over your shoulders. Once on, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and the tears start to well up again. You lift your hand to your neck, gently running your fingers down over the beading that adorns the neckline.

_‘This is it. Your whole life is going change while you are wearing this dress,’_  you think to yourself, lifting your hand again to wipe away the stray tear. The thought gives you another rush of butterflies, so you take a deep breath, exhaling slowing before calling out for Suzie’s assistance.

“Ready for me?” Suzie calls, poking her head in before slipping past the curtain and into your dressing room. Staying quiet so as not to give anything away, she simply beams at you, opening her eyes wide and shrugging her shoulders up in an excited manner.

“Turn around for me and I’ll do up your buttons.”

You do as instructed, allowing her access to the back of your dress. The back features a deep, low v that is also adorned in the same beading as the neckline. There are about fifteen buttons that start about mid-back at the tip of the V and extend down to the swell of your backside.

“Okay, all done,” Suzie says, moving back around to your front. “What do you think?”

You turn and look at yourself in the mirror, watching as she moves around to the back once more, fluffing and laying out the small train to lie delicately behind you. The dress fits you flawlessly already, and the way the pleated, cross-patterned bodice ruches to one side, gathering at the beaded snowflake accents your figure just perfectly.

You turn your body from side to side, just taking in how the dress looks on you from all angles. You don’t think you’ll be able to speak without tearing up again, so you just nod your head as a joyful smile spreads across your face.

“Let’s show your girls, what do you say?”

You nod again as she slips through, but keeps her grip on the curtain.

“Alright, girls, are you ready to see your bride?”

The girls are standing on either side of the platform, and both let out an excited squeal and bring their hands up, clapping eagerly.

“Oh my god, I am so ready. I’ve been waiting to see this dress for-everrr!” Jenna says dramatically, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

“Okay, Kat, whenever you’re ready,” she says as she slowly and gently slides the curtain open. You take a deep breath before stepping forward, making your way out of the dressing room and into their view.

Both girls gasp as you begin your walk to the platform at the back of the room. The A-line dress swishes elegantly around you, swaying with every minor movement.

“Ooooh!” Maddy gasps, cupping her hands over her mouth. “Oh my gosh, Kat. It’s gorgeous.”

You notice both girls have the same issue you had with not being able to hold back their tears as you step up onto the platform, Suzie quickly moving around back to lay out the train.

“It’s so beautiful!” Jenna gushes, reaching out to touch the beading. “Josh is gonna DIE when he sees you in this dress. There’s no way that big sap will be able to stop himself from tears,” she quips, reaching up to wipe away her own tears.

“Oh yeah,” Maddy agrees. “Calling it now, that boy will be a sobbing mess.”

“Well, in a dress like this, who could blame him,” Suzie says, walking around to face everyone. “Let’s have you all get in close so we can see what it’ll look like on the big day.”

“OH! Actually-” you say, placing your arms around Maddy and Jenna at the waist, “would you mind taking a picture of us? I want to be able to have a visual reference for planning.”

“You got it!” Suzie agrees, heading toward the dressing room to fetch your phone.

“My phone is on the bench seat!” you call out, excitedly giggling as the three of you look at your reflection in the mirror.

“Okay girls, look this way, aaaaand…” your phone makes a shutter sound as she takes the photo. “Perfect,” Suzie praises as she hands you your phone to inspect.

“Aaahhh! We look so good! I’m so excited!” you say, holding out your phone so Maddy and Jenna can see as well.

“Yeah, you just better hope Josh doesn’t find this picture before the big day!”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate and recently gave birth to my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	21. Chapter 21

“Can someone please explain to me how in the heck we are already just two days from the wedding? Like, where did the time go?”

“Yeah, no joke; that’s something I’d like to know too. This year has absolutely flown by! Seems like just yesterday it was still summer,” you say, sitting down on the floor to tie your black and hot pink bowling shoes. You purchased your own personal pair several months ago; with as often as you all go bowling together, not only did it save you money on shoe rental but also having your own pair seemed a bit more sanitary. Not to mention they were super cute.

“Yeah, I’m missing that warm, summer air right about now too,” Maddy says while she finishes buttoning her black and hot pink bowling shirt over a black, long sleeve shirt.

With traditional bachelor/bachelorette parties involving strippers and heavy drinking not really being either of your styles, you and Josh, together, had decided to have a more mild, low-key celebration and have a joint party together. The two of you had rented out the entire bowling alley for the evening, and both the wedding party and close family were all invited to celebrate and unwind before the upcoming nuptials.

“To be fair, time flies when you’ve been planning a big event like this. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done,” Jenna adds.

“Think about it though, in just three days you’ll be a newly married woman, jetting off to your honeymoon with your new hubby,” Maddy reasons.

“New hubby? Hey, that’s me!” Josh says with a wide grin and joyful, squinted eyes, adjusting the collar of his electric blue and black bowling shirt as he makes his way over to you, helping to pull you back to your feet.  

You had purchased matching bowling shirts for the wedding party, special just for tonight. The guys’ shirts were all black with an electric blue color panel down the front center and blue piping on the cuffs of the sleeves. ‘Team Groom’ was printed on the back with a velvety bowtie underneath. The girls’ shirts were just the same, except with a hot pink panel and piping, and ‘Team Bride’ on the back with a glittery diamond ring underneath.

“I hate to break it to you, but Team Groom is totally gonna kick Team Bride’s butt,” Tyler taunts as he walks into the room, flipping up the fur-lined hood of his puffy winter coat.

“Yeah?” Jenna says, placing her hands on her hips. “Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is, big boy?” she dares. Tyler tilts his head forward as his eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline, his face clearly one of shock and challenge. “If we win, you can’t have any Red Bull for an entire week.”

Tyler dramatically gasps, placing his hand on his chest before countering, “Well,” he says theatrically, “if _we_ win, then you’re not allowed to have any sweets for a week.”

“Oh, you are ON, Joseph!”

“Guys, guys… think of the wedding cake. We didn’t spend $850 on a cake for Jenna to not even be able to have some of it,” you beg. Josh shakes his head in agreement, his fluffy hair tickling your face from where he’s leaned down to rest his chin on your shoulder, his warm arms wrapped around your waist from behind.

“Oh, don’t you worry. I’ll be having _plennnty_ of cake after I win this challenge.”

“Alright, then game on!” Tyler says, racing past Jenna and smacking her butt with a loud _CRACK_ as he heads toward the front door. “SEE YOU IN THE CAR!”

*****

“Here, put these on,” Jenna says, standing on her tiptoes so that she can place a tiara with a mini bridal veil attached atop your head. “It’s not officially your bachelorette party until you do,” she adds, adjusting the veil to lay just how she wanted. “There. Perfect. And lastly,” she says, holding out a white satin sash with ‘Future Mrs. Dun’ written in gold, glittery letters on it. You start to lean down, bowing your head down so she can place it over your shoulder when you hear Josh’s voice cut in.

“Actually, I’ll take that,” he says, holding out his hands to collect the sash from Jenna. She hands it over with a raised eyebrow and a smile. You shrug your shoulders at her before you once again lean down and bow your head.

“If anyone gets to adorn my bride to be with this, it should be me,” he says, placing it over your head and pulling you into a kiss.

Suddenly the lights go out before bright, laser lights from the DJ booth flash in sync with heavy bass bumping through the speakers.

 

_Everybody! Everybody! Let's get into it! Get stupid!_

_Get it started, get it started, get it started_

_Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here_

 

His lips are still attached to yours as the glow bowling black lights finally come up with the main chorus, brightly illuminating your Team Bride and Team Groom shirts.

“Alright, let’s get this party staaarteeed!” Tyler exclaims to you both, effectively ending your show of affection as he humorously dances past Josh to grab his neon green bowling ball.  Josh smiles widely as he throws his head back in laughter at his best friend. You chuckle, secretly hoping someone caught him on camera as Josh leans back down to kiss your head one last time before going to join his team in the lane next to yours.

*****

“Aaaalright, alright, alright, if I could have everyone gather over by the snack table, the soon-to-be Bride and Groom have a few things they would like to say,” the DJ cuts in on top of the ending of Party Rock Anthem. Josh is beaming as he takes your hand and leads you to stand behind the table near the cake Jenna made, special for tonight.

As the song fades out, the DJ lowers the volume as a new song, At Last by Etta James fades in.

Shyly, Josh picks up one of the mics hidden behind the cake and flips on the switch. “So, as you all know, I’m not good with these things,” Josh says, holding the mic out and glancing down at it nervously for a brief second. “I usually just let Tyler do all the talking--”

“You know it!” Tyler cuts in, resulting in laughs and chuckles throughout the guests.

“Kat and I just really want to thank you all for coming and for celebrating with us, an… and we have a few things we’d like… we’d like to give you, so…” he trails off as he hands you the mic. He quickly squats down to retrieve a bag from under the plastic tablecloth.

“Save it for the honeymoon, Josh!” Zach teases.

“Yeah, man, we don’t need to see that,” Jay joins in, and when Josh stands back up, gift bag in hand, his face is beet red.  

“So, uh, if I could have my girls come up here, please, Jenna and Maddy,” you say as they make their way to the table. Josh hands them each a long, black velvet box with a shiny red bow on top.

“Go ahead and open those,” you instruct, and they both open them to reveal a sterling silver necklace. Each necklace features a sterling silver snowflake, accented by a Swarovski crystal pearl and script initials of their first name. Maddy gasps at the beautiful jewelry as Jenna turns hers toward the guests, her eyes beginning to tear up.

“So, I got you these necklaces to wear for the wedding, but also because of our friendship. They say each snowflake is unique and special, unlike any other, and that’s what you both are to me. We have all grown so close, and I am so grateful to have you both in my life,” you say, turning to them and clearing your throat as you start to choke up. “You may have started out as friends,” your voice pitches up as you fight the tears, “but now,” you pause for a few seconds, losing your battle as a tear starts to fall down your cheek, “now, I get to keep you as sisters,” you finally finish, letting out a choked sob as the girls make their way around the table to pull you in to hugs.

“I’m so grateful for you girls. And I have a matching bracelet,” you say, lifting up your wrist to reveal an exact replica of their necklaces, except that instead of an initial, your bracelet features a sterling silver infinity sign. “Thank you, girls, for helping me with all the planning this past year; I couldn’t have done it without you both.”

The guests applaud politely as you give each of them another hug before they return to their seats.

“So, I don’t have anything as touching as her gifts,” he says, turning to wink at you, “but I’d still like to call up my boys, Jordan and Tyler.” They make their way up to the table as Josh pulls out their gifts.

“So, Tyler and I met one summer when we were both working at a swimming pool as lifeguards.”

“Oh, right, I remember that now.”

“Right. Yeah. No, it was so long ago that it’s hard to remember. But I wasn’t, I wasn’t very good at it. And so... and one day, in… in the wave pool, I got sucked under by, just, by this huge, _huge_ wave.”

“He was too busy looking at me,” Tyler adds with faux confidence, barely able to hold in his laughter.

“Yeah, I was so distracted by how good-looking Tyler is that I… that when I gasped, in my shock of Tyler’s, just, godlike beauty, I sucked in a bunch of water and started to drown. But before I blacked out, I… I remember making eye contact with him and thinking ‘Man, we should really start a band together,’” Josh finishes, pausing to let everyone laugh at their made-up story.  

“I’m kidding, of course, but I am very lucky to have a friend like Tyler in my life. I think I can safely say that my life would be totally different without him, and I am grateful, honored, every day to be able to call you my best friend.”

“You’re my best friend,” Tyler cuts in.

“You’re _my_ best friend,” Josh adds.

“We’re best friends,” Tyler continues, and with a smile, Josh hands over his gift.

Tyler reaches out to take the thick, leather-bound journal. It has a slight asymmetric front flap, leather cord binding, and Tyler’s initials, TRJ stamped in gold leaf on the front, bottom left corner. Tyler turns the book over in his hands and finds the words ‘My Best Fren’ stamped on the spine.

“Thanks for being here for me, Tyler. I love you, man,” Josh says as he holds his arms open for a hug. Tyler moves in and they embrace each other for a moment before loudly slapping each other on the back.

“Ok, so, Jordan,” he says, turning towards his brother, “so I don’t have your actual gift with me right now, but here’s a picture of it,” he says as he hands Jordan an 8x10 of a massive, dark stained, Steampunk style tool cabinet, filled to bursting with several woodworking tools.  

“Oh my gosh, are you serious?” Jordan says, eyes wide in disbelief. “I can’t believe it! I —”

“Believe it. I had it installed in your workshop last night.”

“No way, that’s so amazing; thanks, Brother!”

“Well, before you thank me too much, here’s what I got you in the meantime,” Josh says, turning to hand you the mic before grabbing a wooden sign off the table. Turning back around to face the guests, he holds up the sign so that everyone can read it: ‘Sawdust Is Just Man Glitter’.

Everyone, especially Tyler, cracks up at the amusing sign while Josh pulls Jordan in for a hug. “I love you, Brother. Thanks for always being my best man,” he murmurs quietly to Jordan.

“Spooky Jim and Spooky Tim together until the end,” Jordan says, still embracing his brother.

Smiling fondly at them, you raise the mic to your mouth and say, “And now, if I could please have Mrs. Laura Dun come up,” you say, gesturing for Josh’s mom to come up to the table. Josh walks back over to the table, fetching a small, rectangular box. He leans down and places a small kiss your temple, smiling lovingly at you as he hands you the gift.

“Ever since the day you and I first met, you welcomed me into your home and your family with a smile and open arms. Josh has been, and continues to be, the biggest blessing in my life, and all I can say is thank you,” you say as you open the box and present it to her. “Thank you for raising the man of my dreams.”

Inside the box is a white gold necklace with a snowflake pendant made entirely of diamonds. The middle of the snowflake features a rose gold Morganite jewel, and it’s all nestled in a card inside the box that says ‘Thank you for raising the man of my dreams’.

“Oh honie, there’s no one else I’d be more honored to share the family name with,” she says, her eyes misty as she pulls you into a tight hug, kissing you on the cheek. You hear Josh quietly sniffling behind you, trying to hide that his emotions were getting to him. Seeing and hearing his beloved mother say those things to you was very touching to his heart.

As Momma Dun returns to her seat, you see her quietly asking William to help her put on her new necklace as you raise the mic to your mouth for one final presentation.

“And finally, Mom, Dad, can you please join us up here?” you ask, handing the mic over to Josh so you can retrieve their gift.  

Your parents join you at the table and Josh begins speaking. “So I thought, for several weeks... just... wracking my brain trying to come up with a gift that would show you just how happy I am, and appreciative, and, just, how lucky I am to be able to marry your daughter and be able to soon call her my wife. Every idea I had just didn’t seem to be enough, or not good enough, or just couldn’t... didn’t convey the amount of love I have for her.  Then, with the help of my brother, we made you this,” he says, turning to you. You step forward, holding up a large, wooden picture frame that features an 8x6 photo of you and Josh and carved into the wood is the phrase ‘She may always be your princess, but she will be treated as my queen’.

You see a few people dabbing at their eyes while hearing several ‘aww’s’ throughout the guests. Josh moves to hug both of your parent’s before adding, “I don’t know how I could ever repay you for the greatest gift of my life.”

“Grandbabies. We want grandbabies, Josh,” your mother says, effectively causing the guests to laugh while Josh turns a nice shade of pink.

You take the mic, turning to cue the DJ before announcing, “Now, who wants cake?” as the chorus to Sugar by Maroon 5 starts playing.

The DJ turns the volume up and the black lights back on as you and Josh cut the cake into pieces, placing the slices on little saucer-sized plates on the table.

“Hey, Kat?” Josh says as you lay down another piece.

“Yeah?” you say, turning toward Josh only to abruptly jolt back as he covers your nose in a huge dollop of icing.

“JOSH! What the heck was that for?” you say, raising your hand to wipe away some of the pink and white icing. Before he answers, he leans down and rubs his nose back and forth against yours in an eskimo kiss, smearing his nose in icing as well.

“Only because I won’t be able to do it at the wedding,” he says with a smirk, pulling you into a sweet, icing-filled kiss.

“Well, looks like I’ll be missing out on that cake after all, guys,” Jenna says with a longing look.

“That’s right. The only sugar you need in your life is me, baby!” Tyler teases.

“Hey, the trick shot round completely threw me off,” she says, exasperated. “Lord knows you and Josh have more practice goofing off while bowling than I do.”

“Tylerrr,” you plead, wiping at your nose with a napkin, only to smear the icing around worse. “Can’t you postpone your bet until _after_ our wedding?”

“Well, I don’t know,” he says, drawing out the last syllable and turning to Jenna, batting his eyelashes. “What do ya say, Jenna? Rematch?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for those who don't know, or don't check my tumblr for updates, I lost my grandpa last month, not too long after Tyler lost his, actually. I had to travel out of town for the viewing, funeral, and several other family things. I hadn't seen those family members in such a long time, and I loved seeing everyone and hanging with my cousins but hated the circumstances. I apologize for leaving you all hanging for such a long time. It's just hard to write fluff and sap when you're mourning, you know? So thank you all so so much for patience and understanding.
> 
> This fic now has a soundtrack! [Click here for playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd_xfPGGB-BxgQkNnPevUaZgo5oicyXbk)  
> 
> 
>   
> As always, I am actually a surrogate and recently gave birth to my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	22. Chapter 22

“Just think, this time last year, you were in labor right now,” Maddy says as she kneels near the coffee table, painting Jenna’s nails.

“I know. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already,” you say, looking past your beautifully decorated Christmas tree and out the large, arched windows. It’s dark outside, and it’s snowing just enough to be more than a flurry, but not enough to be considered any kind of moderate snowfall. The ground is already covered in a beautiful blanket of white which reflects the streetlights and gives the outdoors a golden, picturesque glow. The fresh snowfall should provide for a beautiful scene for the wedding tomorrow.

The microwave timer sounds, pulling you out of your reverie. “Ooh! Ooh! I’ll get it!” you say as you jump up from your chair, quickly heading for the microwave to get the popcorn.

“Careful! Your nails aren’t quite dry,” Maddy warns, pausing in her application of Jenna’s final coat of polish to shoot a warning glance over the couch at you. Immediately you spread your fingers out and hold them up by your shoulders, facing out so that you won’t accidentally smudge them. You keep them there as you slide-walk in your fuzzy Santa socks past the twinkling Christmas tree and into the kitchen.

In order to keep with the tradition of not seeing the bride before the wedding, Josh is staying the night with Tyler. Naturally, that meant you and the girls are having a sleepover at your and Josh’s house. You had all the sleepover essentials: lots of snacks, chick flicks, hot chocolate, manicures, and matching red plaid pajamas complete with button up top for easy removal after hair and makeup in the morning.

You hear _‘Oh my god, we both said fruitily!’_ from the tv and giggle to yourself as you round the corner and slide-walk back into the living room. “Here we are,” you say, placing the large bowl down on the coffee table in front of the girls, using the side of the bowl to push your wedding planner to the side. The planner, which used to be all uniform and orderly, is now full to bursting with flyers, business cards, clippings, photos, and swatches.

“Thank you, my dear. Now, get those nails back under the UV light for a few more minutes. I won’t allow the bride to have smudged nails on her wedding day,” Maddy orders.

“Yes, Ma’am,” you tease as you plop down in one of the big fluffy chairs just off to the side of the fireplace, pulling the UV lamp into your lap and placing your hands back inside.

“So, are you getting nervous?” Jenna questions, adjusting her position at the coffee table to face you while her nails dry under her own UV lamp.

“Nervous about getting married? Definitely not. I can’t wait to finally be married to Josh,” you say, glancing past Jenna and gazing at the two red velvet stockings hung on the mantle above the fireplace.  “Nervous about being up in front of all of those people? Oh my god yes,” you admit, stretching your legs out so that your feet are closer to the warm fire. “But I guess what’s got me the most nervous is I’m scared I’m going to forget something. I’ve gone over in my head a thousand times what to bring, what not to bring, who to pay, how much to pay, the schedule of events —”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, and for my own peace of mind if we’re being honest, let’s go over everything one more time, okay?” Jenna coaxes as you nod your head in agreement. “Okay, so in the morning we’ll wake up, eat breakfast, and then do our hair and makeup here. I brought bagels and lots of fresh fruit,” Jenna starts.

“And I’ve got the survival kit already packed and ready to go in case we need touch ups or whatever at the Event Center,” Maddy adds. You nod your head while Jenna continues on.

“Perfect. And our dresses and change bags, as you know, are already at the Event Center,” Jenna adds.  “The photographer will want to take a few ‘before’ pictures, so we’ll plan to be there by 11:00 to give him plenty of time before we finish getting dressed.”

“Then the boys should be arriving soon after we’re ready, so either him or his assistant will most likely go over to their dressing room and snap some pictures there,” Maddy adds.

Just thinking about Josh arriving at the Event Center tomorrow for your wedding, tux slung over his shoulder and happy smile on his face makes your stomach flip and gives you a fresh set of butterflies.

“Around noon is when you’ll want to take you ‘first look’ photos. I know you're not planning on having Josh see you before the wedding, so just explain that to the photographer and what photos you _do_ want, if you haven't already,” Jenna instructs.

“Yeah, we've emailed back and forth quite a few times,” you inform. “And I’ve definitely let him know Josh is not to see me. We have a few cute photo ideas for that part.”

“Perfect,” Jenna nods.

“And while you're doing that, the guests should start to arrive,” Maddy says as she starts to pack away all of her polish and manicure supplies.

Another wave of butterflies.

“And then as soon as you're done with your first look shots, it’ll probably be about time to line up and get ready to walk down the _aiiislllle_ ,” Jenna finishes in a sing-song voice.

This time your stomach drops out completely and the wave of butterflies is enormous, like going over the first big hill on a roller coaster.

“Oh! That reminds me! Where are your vows?” Maddy asks.

“They’re upstairs on my nightstand. Want me to go get them?”

“Yes, please. I’ll need them to pass along to the minister tomorrow.”

“If my nails are dry enough, I’ll run upstairs and get them for you,” you say, placing your hand in front of Maddy, dramatically bent at the wrist for her to inspect. She holds each finger individually, running her thumb over your polish as she intensely inspects her work before finally nodding and giving the OK. She worked hard to achieve the look you wanted which was essentially a french manicure, but the tips were a shimmery silver glitter that faded out toward the cuticle of the nail, making the tips resemble freshly fallen snow.

You stand, turning off and placing the UV lamp on the table as Jenna continues with tomorrow’s events. “Now, just to be sure, tomorrow you are riding with me in my car, Maddy is driving her own car, Josh is riding with Ty, and Will is driving his car, correct?”

You look up towards the ceiling, pointing your finger vaguely in the air as you visualize through what she just said. “Yes. That sounds right,” you say, nodding at her as you climb the curved stairs that lead up to the bedrooms.

“Ok, that will give us at least four vehicles to haul your gifts back here with after the reception. Is there anywhere in particular you would like us to place them while you’re gone?”

“Umm,” you say, gazing over the garland-lined metal railing and down at the living room from the overlook, “just place them under the tree, actually,” you finish, pointing down at the already full Christmas tree.

“Aww, great idea! It’ll be like having your own personal Christmas when you get back from your honeymoon,” Jenna states.  

“Aww,” Maddy gushes, agreeing with Jenna.

“Jenna?”  you shout over your shoulder as you walk down the hall toward your bedroom.

“Yeah?”

“Tyler still has a key to our house, right?”

You faintly hear her reply something that sounds like an affirmation as you enter your bedroom. The scent of Josh is heavy in this room and you close your eyes as you inhale deeply, filling your senses with his familiar aroma. Immediately you feel content as your heart is filled with love and adoration for him. How in the world did you ever get lucky enough to be able to call Josh yours?

Deciding not to tempt fate, you quickly drop that train of thought as you cross the room and head toward your side of the bed, belatedly noticing a large, plushy golden retriever with a small envelope propped against his chest, nestled in between you and Josh’s pillows. Smiling to yourself as you sit on the bed with one leg curled under you, you pull out the letter and begin to read.

 

To the prettiest bride-to-be,

Salutations!

My name is Jim, and I’ll be here to keep you company when Josh is away. Josh wishes he could be here with you, but since he can’t, I volunteer my services to you as cuddle buddy. He told me to tell you to snuggle me as tight as you wish for as long as you need to. My fur is extra soft, and I promise to keep away all bad dreams, bedtime monsters, and lonely thoughts. I eat those scary things for breakfast!  Just remember that as long as I am with you, Josh is with you.

Josh also told me to tell you that he loves you and can’t wait to see you tomorrow. He said that he’s waited so long to finally be able to marry you that he doesn’t think he’ll get even a wink of sleep.

Happy to be at your service. Sweet dreams. Love you.

-Jim

 

Quickly becoming emotional, you set the letter down and pick up Jim, hugging him tightly to your chest. Recognizing that Josh must have sprayed the plush with his cologne before he left, you realize that this must be the reason the room smells so strongly of him.

You’re not complaining.

You set Jim back in his spot on the bed and retrieve your vows from your nightstand. As if the universe were watching, just as you have the vows in your hand, your phone rings with the facetime ringtone, and your heart flutters when you see Josh’s name displayed on your screen.

“Well hello there, future Mrs. Dun,” Josh says, beaming at you through your phone screen.

“And hello to you too, soon-to-be-husband. What are you up to?”

“Oh, you know, up to no good, as usual,” Josh sasses.

“Oh yeah?” you say, playing along, “Are you and Tyler causing trouble? Being heathens?”

“Actually, Tyler’s making me go to bed early. Says I need to be fully rested, or some such weirdness.”

“Remind me to pat him on the back for that one,” you say, impressed with Tyler’s ability to be responsible when you know he’d rather play and have fun. “So are you headed to bed now?”

“Soon. I just wanted to show you this picture of Sophie the parents sent me tonight,” he says as he taps his phone a few times. Suddenly, instead of seeing his face you see a picture of Sophie in her big, frilly, pink birthday dress, sitting in front of a giant pile of gifts and cake frosting absolutely everywhere: it’s on her face, on her hands, in her hair, and on her dress, all the while she has the widest, orneriest four-toothed grin on her face. You’ve never seen anything more adorable in your life.

“Isn’t she precious?!” Josh brags.

“Aww, oh my gosh she is! She’s so cute! I can’t believe how big she’s gotten,” you gush. “She used to be this chunky, itty bitty thing. Now she’s almost all leg. Growing like a weed!”

“I miss her,” Josh admits, his voice faltering for just a second.

“I know, I miss her too. We were just talking about her downstairs, actually,” you say as Josh’s face returns to view. “It’s insane that she’s already a year old,” you say, watching as Josh slowly nods his head in agreement. “So, did you get the gift I sent with Tyler?”

“I did. Thank you for the awesome alien socks,” Josh says as he awkwardly holds up his foot to the camera.”

“I got you those in case you got ‘cold feet’,” you chuckle.

“As if I would ever even dream of changing my mind. I’ve waited long enough for tomorrow to arrive. It’s killed me having to wait this long,” he says, ending with a long sigh. “Speaking of, did you happen to get my gift?”

“I sure did,’ you say, reaching over to grab Jim and hold him to your chest. Placing your chin on top of his head, you continue, “I love him. Thank you, Josh.”

“You’re welco—”

“Excuse me, but what is going on in here?” you hear Maddy say as her and Jenna both run from the bedroom door and belly flop onto your bed, knocking against each other as they bounce on the large mattress.  

“Josh just called to say goodnight,” you say, pointing toward your phone with your free hand.

“Hey girls,” Josh greets with a smile and a wave at the camera.

“Oh no no no, that is not allowed. No seeing the bride before the wedding, Mr. Dun,” Jenna says, feigning being irritated with Josh.

“What?! But the wedding isn’t until tomorrow,” Josh pleads.

“Close enough,” Jenna argues. “Say goodnight, Romeo,” she orders, holding her hand out for your phone.

“Goodnight, my sweetheart. See you tomorrow,” he says as he blows a kiss to the camera.

“Goodnight, Josh. Meet you at the altar.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I am actually a surrogate and recently gave birth to my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


	23. Chapter 23

Incoming from Hubby: 

 

> Good morning, beautiful! Happy wedding day! 
> 
> I still cannot believe that someone like you could fall in love with someone like me. I still want to pinch myself just to make sure that I’m not dreaming all this up. Today I get to marry the woman of my dreams, my answered prayers, and my happily ever after. I love you, so much, and I promise to make you happy, loved, and cherished every day for the rest of our lives. 
> 
> Can’t wait to see you. 
> 
>  

*****

“And for the final touch…” Jenna says, placing your diamond snowflake comb into your hair at the back, just above the braid and curls.

You had your hair pulled back in an elegant, low style updo with lots of big, voluminous curls in the back. A wide, loose braid sits at the crown of your head and continues off to the side before disappearing into the curls in the back.  Your bangs are swept to the side, and beautiful, wispy strands of spiral ringlets effortlessly join to frame your face.

There were very few things you allowed yourself to absolutely splurge on for the wedding, and the snowflake comb was one of them. You felt that the comb, by itself, captured the magic of the day and how special your winter wedding was to both you and Josh. Not only was it stunning, catching the light and sparkling with every move, but it made the perfect keepsake piece of your big day. It could be displayed every year at Christmas time, and was a new family heirloom that you could picture yourself passing it down to a daughter one day.  

Several flashes go off from different angles as the photographers, Tim and Kyle, capture this final moment of you getting ready for your big day.

“Perfect. Beauuutiful,” Tim says as he moves around a bit more, using his angles and snapping a few more pictures of the sweet moment. Once the comb is perfectly in place, Jenna moves around to your front, placing her hands on your shoulders and giving your final look a last once-over before starting to tear up.

 “Oh don’t start that now,” you say, giving her a pleading look. “If you cry, I’ll cry, and then we’ll all be a sobbing mess before the wedding even starts.”

 “You just look so beautiful, and...” Jenna stops, clearing her throat and steeling herself before pulling you into a hug as more flashes go off. “I’m just so happy for you and Josh,” she adds, squeezing you harder as you reach out to squeeze Maddy’s hand.

 “I’m very lucky to have Josh, and to have you both as sisters,” you say, giving one final squeeze to them both before letting go.

 “Thank you very much ladies,” Tim says after a pause, ending the sweet moment. “Those photos were beautiful, just like you all,” he adds with a wink, placing the camera’s cap back over the lens. “If you’ll excuse us for a few minutes, I believe the groom and his party have arrived, so we’ll head over and take some photos of them and can be back here to take your No Peek First Look photos in about 30-45 minutes. Sound okay?”

 “Yes, sounds perfect,” you nod, smiling sweetly as you speak. “Thank you very much, guys,” you say, waving politely as they grab their equipment bags and hurry out of your dressing room door. A whole army of butterflies suddenly unleashes in your stomach at the anticipation of seeing Josh soon. You can’t wait to see him.

 “A toast!” Maddy says, raising a glass of champagne high in the air and snapping you out of your thoughts.

 “Ooh, yes!” Jenna agrees, bouncing over and picking up two more champagne flutes from the coffee table, handing one to you before you both join Maddy, raising your glasses as well.

 “Here’s to new sisters,” Maddy says with a sweet smile.

 “Here’s to finally getting Josh married off,” Jenna teases with a giggle.

 “And here’s to the wedding day _finally_ arriving!” you finish as you all start to giggle now, clinking the tops of your glasses together before taking your sips.

 *****

Josh stands still, chin lifted and smiling at his best friend as Tyler tightens his bow tie for him. The sound of the camera shutters opening and closing rapidly can be heard throughout the room as Jordan approaches with his tuxedo jacket. The shutter sounds continue as Jordan helps Josh slip on his jacket, Josh rolling his shoulders forward once his arms are through the sleeves. 

“You look good, brother,” Jordan says, clapping Josh on the back in a loving gesture.

“Thanks, man,” Josh says with a squinty-eyed smile. “Thanks for being here with me today.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Spooky Jim and Spooky Tim ‘til the end,” Jordan says, moving in to squeeze Josh in a crushing hug, camera flashes going off all the while.

“Good, good. Now, for the last few, let’s get some fun, playful photos outside on the veranda. Anything you want or had in mind?” Tim asks, reviewing a few of the last photos, then adjusting some settings on the camera.

“Umm,” Josh says, bringing his hand up to his hair to scratch his head before remembering his hair is styled and he shouldn’t bother it. He smooths it back down and places his hands behind him, holding onto his wrist behind his back. “We could… we could do the sunglasses thing? Maybe?”

“Oh yeah, perfect! Good thinkin’, buddy!” Tyler says, smiling widely at Josh before hurrying over to grab their sunglasses off the entry table. Josh and Jordan nod to each other and follow him to the dressing room door and out to the veranda.

The whole outside of the building was just stunning in the new, light snow. Soft white icicle lights that hung from every eave lit up the frame of the building in a peaceful glow, and all the veranda and stair railings were covered with lighted pine garland giving the building a rustic Christmas feel. Finishing it off was a large, oversized forest green wreath with the letters J and K in the center, hanging from the front gable.

With Josh in the middle and Tyler and Jordan off to either side, each of the boys place their sunglasses crooked on their faces with one side of the sunglasses under their earlobe and the other side resting near their hairlines.

“Ready? Here we go,” Tim says as they turn to the side, striking their pose, all of them with their arms outstretched, left hand down and palm up, right arm back and to an angle.

“In 3… 2…” Tim says before the camera shutter sounds can be heard from his and Kyle’s cameras.

“Alright, we have time for one more photo before I steal Josh away for some solo photos,” Tim says looking down at his watch. “What do you guys want to do?”

“Oh! I got one!” Tyler exclaims. “Jordan, do you have the rings with you?”

“Of course,” he says, reaching into the breast pocket of his tuxedo jacket and handing the ring to Tyler. Tyler drops down to one knee, holding the ring up to Josh with a hopeful expression. Josh holds his left hand out to Tyler, pretending to accept the ring while placing his other hand over his mouth and making a shocked expression. Jordan stands off behind them in the background, peeking around with hands placed on his cheeks while making an equally silly, shocked expression.

“Perfect, hold it right there, aaaaaand,” Tim says, and he and Kyle both snap away. “Excellent! Boys, thank you so much. It was a pleasure,” Tim says, moving to shake hands with Tyler and Jordan. “If I could have the groom for a few solo shots…” he trails off, capping his camera and switching lenses as Tyler and Jordan wave goodbye, already heading inside out of the cold.

“I won’t keep you long, I just have a few shots I want to get while we wait for your bride to finish up,” he says, still focused on his camera. Josh’s face lights up at that, nodding as he starts to fidget with his cufflinks, anxious to ‘see’ you.

Tim takes several wonderful pictures of Josh: some where he’s in focus and the event center is blurred, lit up in the background, some of him leaning against the pillars out front of the event center, and some of him adjusting his cufflinks, but Josh’s favorite was the one where a few snowflakes stood out starkly against his curly, chestnut hair as he was squatted down, having drawn a large heart in the snow with your initials on the inside. He wanted that one framed.  

“Alright Josh, Thank you so much. If you could meet me out back patio in about 15 minutes, I’ll go get your bride and we’ll do the First Looks.

Josh had never arrived anywhere earlier in his life.

*****

“Josh, if you would be so kind as to turn around and face that way,” Tim says, pointing his finger in the opposite direction of the event center, “I do believe your bride is waiting to join us.” Josh does as instructed, smiling widely and biting his tongue as he turns, the joy and excitement very apparent on his face.

Tim motions to you, giving you the okay to approach. Kyle holds the door open for you as you lift your dress train and begin to make your way out onto the patio, silk burgundy blindfold in hand. You quickly send a mental thank you for the heating lamps that are keeping the patio warm. You want to show your dress off in these photos, but with the weather and the snow, there’s no way you could pull it off without the heaters.

Your eyes lock onto Josh and an elated smile forms on your face as you approach him. In less than an hour, this man-- this beautiful, kind, loving and gentle man-- is going to be your husband.

Yours forever.

The thought sends your heart leaping and your stomach filling with anxious, excited butterflies.

Even though only his back is visible to you, with his hands clasped politely in front of him, you can still tell just how handsome he looks in his fitted black tuxedo and shiny black dress shoes. Just a peek of his burgundy, cashmere scarf shows from under the collar of his tuxedo jacket, and a few of his dark brown curls are just long enough to tickle the top of the scarf.

You hand the scarf over to Tim, and once again send a silent thank you for the heating lamps. Not only are they keeping you warm, but they are saving your white, lace embellished bridal flats from being ruined by any dirty water or snow.

Reaching out a gentle hand, you lightly place your hand on Josh’s upper back. His hands instinctively unclasp as he stands up straight, taking a sharp intake of breath before you hear him whimper slightly.

“Hello, handsome,” you say low and soft against his neck, causing goosebumps to arise.  

You hear a whoosh of breath, followed by a whisper of “oh my gosh” as his hands move to cover his mouth. He stays that way for a few seconds, fighting his urge to cry, to turn around, to do _something_ besides stand there with his back to you.

“Hello, my beautiful bride,” he finally murmurs as he shifts from foot to foot. “This is so much harder than I expected it to be. I am _dying_ to turn around and see you.”

“I know, I know... but you know you can’t,” you say, leaning forward to wrap your arm around his waist, laying your head between his shoulder blades in a backward, one-armed hug. Josh reaches his hand up, placing his arm on top of yours while he holds your hand against his stomach, his thumb stroking the top of your hand.

“Guys, don’t move,” Tim says, getting into position. “This is too perfect. Kat look at the camera, please. Aaaand…” he says as he takes several shots of this impromptu pose.  “Excellent. Okay, now let’s have you turn around, Kat, and hold hands please.”

You do as instructed, turning around to stand back to back with Josh while Kyle fluffs and straightens your train. You reach behind you and find Josh’s warm hand waiting to hold yours, interlocking your fingers as soon as he feels your delicate touch. Each of you face forward as he snaps a few more photos.

“Okay, now let’s use the blindfold. Kyle, hand this to Kat please,” Tim says, handing Kyle the blindfold as you feel Josh squeeze your hand one last time before letting go. “Kat, please place the blindfold over Josh’s eyes,” he instructs.

Josh once again turns away and you stand on your toes to do as instructed as Tim continues to rapidly take photos of you placing the blindfold over his eyes. Josh reaches up to help hold the blindfold in place as you gently tie it in the back, Tim taking photos all the while.

“Okay, can you see anything?” you ask, waving your hand in front of his face.

“Unfortunately, no, I can’t,” he confirms.

“Good, then you can go ahead and turn around,” you say, placing your hands on his shoulders to help turn him around to face you.

“Perfect. Clasp hands again, please,” Tim instructs. “Now, Josh, lean forward and place a kiss on her forehead.”

You close your eyes and lift your chin as his warm, soft lips find their place, resting on your forehead. You lean in and place your hand on his lapel while Tim snaps several pictures.

“Okay, and finally, Josh, give her a kiss please.”

“With pleasure,” Josh replies, grinning as he lifts a hand to your cheek before he moves in to place a soft, gentle kiss to your lips, happily holding it for several seconds so Tim can take many photos. When you finally break the kiss, he leans back in, giving you several Eskimo kisses before fully pulling away.

“Okay guys, I believe that’ll do it. Kat, if you’ll head back in please, I will get Josh’s blindfold removed and alert the coordinator that we are ready to start lining up for the ceremony.”

You nod your head at Tim before leaning in, cupping your hand around Josh’s ear and whispering, “See you soon, Mr. Dun.” You lean forward and place a feather-light kiss to his earlobe, visibly causing Josh to shudder.

“Oh, you’re not playing fair,” he whispers back. “I love you,” he says, blindly lifting his hand to brush the back of his fingers against your cheek. “See you soon, Mrs. Dun.”

You lean in and place a final kiss to his nose before you gather your dress back into your arms, holding your train off the ground as you retreat back inside. Your stomach flips as the doors close behind you. You make your way to your waiting area, reality quickly and suddenly setting in as you realize there’s nothing left to do. Everything is done, and this is it.

It’s time to get married.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I am actually a surrogate and recently gave birth to my 3rd surrobaby, so If you have any questions or are curious about any part of being a surrogate, please ask! I love talking about surrogacy stuff! 
> 
> I have a [Tumblr](http://heytheregreeneyes.tumblr.com/). Come say hi!


End file.
